Finding our way back
by Lucinders
Summary: Owen and Cristina after Season 7 finale. Cristina is living at Meredith's house, along with all of the residents. Cristina has a secret.
1. Chapter 1  The secret

**AN: This is my first attempt at fanfic, so please be kind. Also, please don't give me grief about any of the medical stuff because I know nothing about medicine. I have an MBA not an MD. This follows after the Season 7 finale.**

* * *

><p>Maybe it was the chubby hand that kept poking her face or the gurgling sounds of baby breath in her face that woke her up. Cristina opened one eye and then the next, to see Zola's smiling face, just inches from her own. The baby was already in Cristina's bed, making herself comfortable.<p>

"Can you watch her for about 15 minutes? I need to take a shower," Meredith said from the bedroom doorway.

"No problem," Cristina said, "Zola and me will get along fine, aren't we, baby?"

In the two-and-a-half months that Cristina had been staying at Meredith's house, occupying Alex's former bedroom, she and Zola had become great friends. After all, she was Zola's godmother and the baby was such a happy creature that it was a joy to have her around.

Zola was now nearly nine months old and was growing so fast, starting to crawl and get into things. She loved her blonde Momma and her dark-haired Auntie Cristina with the big, bouncy curls. She grabbed a fistful of curls in her tiny hand and tugged on them, with all of her baby strength.

"Ow, Zola! Not so hard," Cristina softly scolded the baby, who just giggled. "In a couple of months, Zola, you're not going to be the only baby around here."

_Her words brought her back to the day of her scheduled appointment to terminate the pregnancy. She had been in her eighth week. She had this uneasy feeling all day about the termination. In the two weeks, since Owen had kicked out of the firehouse, she had barely spoken to him. Their acknowledgement of one another was polite and totally professional. She had no reason to be in the pit because April, as chief resident, had done her the favor of assigning her on other attendings' service, so they saw very little of each other during the day. _

_She had woken up that morning, second-guessing herself. When she had her miscarriage four years ago, she had cried and cried. She had convinced herself that she did not want the baby and had scheduled the termination but nature won out and ended it for her, instead. Yet, she found herself inconsolable at the loss of the baby. Was it just her hormones acting up or was she truly mournful at what could have been? Was she going to have the same reaction now, as she did then?_

_Those thoughts kept rushing through her head and as she passed the OB/GYN department, she impulsively stepped in and asked the receptionist if she could have an ultrasound. The bespectacled, redheaded receptionist said that she was in luck because Dr Stone had an appointment open because the patient had cancelled. _

_Dr Evan Stone was a kindly older ob/gyn doctor with graying hair, ruddy cheeks and blue, twinkly eyes. He had done many a delivery and there was nothing more wonderful to him than to bring a new life into the world. He looked at the petite surgical resident laying on the table. She seemed rather anxious and he attempted to calm her nerves._

"_So Dr Yang, you had an ultrasound two weeks ago with Dr Fields. Why do you want one so soon?" he asked._

"_I'm a little bit anxious because I'm a doctor and I know how many things can go wrong, especially if you look at my medical history," Cristina lied. The truth was that she hoped that this would help her make up her mind that she could actually go through with the abortion, that afternoon. _

"_Okay, then," Stone said, "here we go." He placed the wand on Cristina's stomach. He gasped and then smiled broadly._

"_Well, look at that, Dr Yang. Do you see what I see?" he nodded, excitedly._

_Cristina looked at the image and saw the two unmistakable gestational sacs._

"_Twins," she squeaked. "But, we didn't see that in the last ultrasound."_

"_Well, it's a good thing you decided to have another exam. Sometimes, they don't show up so clearly earlier in the pregnancy. Everything looks fine with them. Let's see if we can hear their heartbeats."_

_And then Cristina heard two distinct heartbeats on the Doppler. She felt shell-shocked. Two babies, she thought, two freaking babies. _

_Dr Stone then started mapping out a series of appointment dates for the next seven months and handed her a sheaf of literature on pregnancy, as well as a bunch of pre-natal vitamins. Cristina nodded but she wasn't hearing anything that he was saying. _

_It was only when he said, "Dr Hunt will be very excited" that brought her back to reality. She grabbed all that he had to offer and mumbled something about a surgery, as she pelted out of that exam room._

_She raced to call Meredith, who was still on suspension from the incident with the Alzheimer's trial._

"_Hey, Cristina. About this afternoon, I will be there to take you home after the appointment," Meredith said on the other end of the line._

"_Meredith, it's twins!"_

"_Twins?" Meredith sounded shocked. "Does that make a difference?"_

"_It's hard enough to terminate one baby, but two babies? Gosh, I don't know what to do," Cristina said._

"_Do you need sometime to think about it?" Meredith asked. "You know I will support you in whatever you do but given how much I have struggled this year to conceive, I think a baby is a blessing. But I am still here for whatever you decide."_

_Cristina nodded to herself She needed some time to think about it. She cancelled the appointment and after much thought and many sleepless nights, she never rescheduled it again. She and Meredith had decided that she could do it._

"_Are you going to tell Owen?" Meredith asked. _

"_Not right now. He did kick me out of the house and to be honest, I really don't want to deal with him right now," Cristina said. "Every time I look at him, I just feel so angry and hurt at the same time. I think I just want to burst into tears. We will have to tell Lexie, April and Jackson because I really can't hide it, when I am hugging the porcelain queen every morning." And thus, the secret was kept among the five residents. That was two months ago and Cristina was presently four months pregnant._

Meredith's voice interrupted Cristina's reminiscing. "Thanks, Cristina, for looking after her. Okay, Zola, let's get you changed and then we can all go to the hospital."

Cristina handed over Zola, got out of bed and started to get ready for the day.


	2. Chapter 2  The fainting spell

The five residents sat around the breakfast table with Zola in her high chair. The house had definitely reverted to its full frat house status, since Derek Shepherd had moved out.

Cristina was sipping on hot tea and snacking on some crackers and cheese. Meredith was feeding Zola her morning cereal. Jackson was chomping down on a hearty omelet, while Lexie was having cereal and April munched on a sandwich. Zola looked around at this ragtag band of residents. This was her family – her momma, her auntie Cristina, her auntie Lexie with the long, straight, dark hair, Jackson with the pretty green eyes and April, a perky creature with red hair. There was also the man with the nice, dark hair and the bright blue eyes, who came to play with Zola every day in the day care. She was sure that he was her family, too because he kept saying that he was her daddy.

"Is that all you're eating?" Lexie asked Cristina.

"Shouldn't you be eating more? After all, you are carrying twins!" April added. "I'm surprised how little you're showing."

Cristina could only tolerate April in small measures but she had learned to live with the chief resident's perkiness because April handled the assignments of the residents and she needed April to be on her side so she could avoid Owen at work.

"I don't feel very hungry this morning. I have a little tummy so I stopped wearing the extra small scrubs and moved up to the small sized scrubs. Gives me more room to hide it."

Jackson looked up from his omelet and asked, "How long are you planning to keep this a secret again? I mean, you're not showing much now but there will come a time when you can't hide it any longer."

Cristina looked at him, "Hey, I am a skinny bitch. I think I can hide it for a good while yet."

The other four residents looked a little bit doubtful at that pronouncement.

April ventured carefully, "I know we agreed two months ago to keep your secret because you didn't want any of the attendings to treat you any differently but…..I have to ask about Dr Hunt, in particular."

Cristina says, "The agreement is for all of the attendings, including Dr. Hunt."

"Yes," April said, "but he is your husband and the father of these babies. Besides, he has been asking me every day about you and it is becoming harder and harder to lie. I think he has figured out that I am the weakest link in this house. I can't even look at him – those piercing blue eyes make me feel like he is looking at my soul."

Cristina sighed, "If Owen asks you again about me, just tell him that I am fine and walk away, quickly."

Lexie added, "Derek asks me about Meredith and Zola all of the time. Gosh, I wish it wasn't so complicated."

Meredith replied, sadly, "He walked out on me. He has to be able to understand why I did what I did. I am sorry about what happened with the trial but nothing I did would change the outcome or the results of the trial. If he wants a life with us, he has to forgive me."

On that somber note, everybody finished up their breakfast and headed out to their cars. April, Lexie and Jackson drove away, leaving Cristina and Meredith to deal with strapping up Zola in the other car. Cristina placed Zola's bag with her food, toys and diapers on the back seat. Zola clapped her little hands together in glee.

They drove to the hospital in silence, knowing that their husbands would be up on the second floor mezzanine, staring at them. They arrived at the hospital and Cristina carefully strapped Zola and her carrier on to the front of her body. Little did Zola know that she was a "belly blocker", camouflaging any sign of Cristina's baby bump. Meredith picked up their bags and they headed into the hospital.

As expected, their husbands were there on the second floor mezzanine, looking down at them. It always bothered Owen to see Cristina carrying Zola. If she could do this with Zola, he thought, why couldn't she do it for our child? His heart ached, when he saw her, but he felt so sad and angry, every time he thought about her terminating the pregnancy.

Zola was dropped off at day care, then Cristina and Meredith headed off to their separate surgeries. Cristina was again working with Teddy, who was incredibly happy these days, now that she and her tumor patient husband, Henry, were now living together. Meredith was working with the Chief mainly, since he understood how her actions in the trial were meant to help Adele. He hated to see that Meredith and Derek were at odds. He always had a soft spot for Meredith and he hated to see her in such anguish.

Cristina and Jackson were assisting Teddy with a valve replacement. Cristina felt a little bit light-headed but she fought through it. Jackson noticed her discomfort and asked if she was alright with his eyes. Cristina nodded but she wasn't really sure herself. She was just hoping that the surgery would be over soon.

After the surgery, Jackson and Cristina began walking to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. The lightheadedness was back in full force and she was starting to see spots. She knew she was going to pass out and said softly, "Jackson, I'm going to faint. Please catch me."

With that, he caught her before she hit the floor. He picked her up and ran into one of the exam rooms to place her on the table. Lexie and April, who were nearby, saw Jackson, running with Cristina's limp body into the exam room.

"What happened?" Lexie asked in a panicked tone.

"She passed out. It could be that she didn't eat much this morning but we have to be sure. April, page Dr Stone 911 emergency. Lexie, get me the smelling salts," Jackson said, trying to stay calm but his heart was beating at a rapid rate.

Unbeknownst to the three residents working on their friend, the Head of Trauma was passing and glanced through the blinds and was shocked to see his wife on the exam room table, with her three friends fussing over her.

Owen flung open the door and shouted, "What the hell happened?"

The room became dead silent.


	3. Chapter 3 Owen finds out

**A/N: Again, no grief on anything medical**.

* * *

><p>Owen burst into the room, pushed Jackson aside and touched his wife's face. She looked a little flushed but she was not feverish.<p>

"What happened to her?" he demanded. "Would someone please tell me what is going on?"

Jackson said, weakly, "She passed out. I think it is because she didn't eat much this morning." There was something about Dr Hunt that always intimidated him. He had great respect for the trauma surgeon and really tried not get on his bad side.

April backed out of the room, saying she had to page Dr Stone to come and check up on Cristina.

Owen stared at her, "Dr Stone, the OB?"

April nodded and realized at that point, that Cristina's secret was going to be revealed. "Why would she need an OB?" Owen asked. He knew the answer but he wanted one of the residents to confirm what he suspected. "Is she still pregnant?"

April and Lexie both nodded and stared at him with apologetic eyes. "Kepner, please give Dr Stone an emergency page. Avery, can you please get Cristina a soup and a sandwich from the cafeteria? Clear out. I will wait for Dr. Stone," he said as he took the smelling salts from Lexie's hands. The three residents filed out of the room.

After setting up his wife with an IV, he passed the smelling salts under Cristina's nostrils and her eyes fluttered open. She muttered, "I just need something to eat, Jackson. I will be alright."

"Avery's not here. I am here," Owen said to her. Cristina's eyes began to focus and saw the familiar contours of her husband's face.

"Oh," she said and turned her head away from him as it dawned on her that he probably knew the truth.

"Don't turn away from me, Cristina. How could you keep this from me?" he asked, trying to keep his emotions in check. He really didn't know how to feel. The joy that he was still going to be a father was overwhelming, yet it was tempered by his frustrations with his wife, who kept it a secret from him.

Cristina did not have time to answer as Dr Stone came rushing through the door, pushing an ultrasound machine.

"Ah, Dr Hunt. Good to see you, I haven't seen you at any of Dr Yang's previous appointments. I know being the head of trauma is a busy job but this is an exciting time for the both of you," Dr Stone said, cheerily. "Dr Yang, I have been informed by Dr. Kepner that you had a fainting spell. So, let's take a look to check that everything is alright."

Cristina raised her shirt and Owen was shocked to see a small curve to her stomach, where before, it was flat. Stone rubbed the gel on her stomach and started moving the wand over the bump.

"Ah, everything looks alright. There is Baby A, who looks fine. Baby B is also doing well," Dr Stone said and was surprised to see the complete shock on Dr Hunt's face. He looked at the two of them and realized that something strange was going on here. Dr Yang seemed unable to look at her husband in the face and Dr Hunt was acting like if everything was a huge revelation to him.

"Dr Yang, we have spoken about this before. You have to eat a proper diet. You are carrying twins and I am surprised to see how little weight you've gained. I know being a surgical resident is tough. I remember my days as a resident – the long hours and grabbing some nasty food from the vending machine. You still have to take care of yourself. You're having twins."

Owen felt the need to interject, "I will ensure, Dr. Stone that Cristina takes better care of herself. You have my word. Also, Dr Stone, can you have your office call my office to let me know when my wife's appointments are? I would so appreciate it. I will make every effort to attend all of them."

"Certainly, Dr Hunt," Stone agreed. He could tell now that the tension in the room was as thick as a soupy fog. He wondered why was it that these attendings got involved with their residents.

Nothing good comes of it, he thought, these two are clearly having trouble and everyone knows about the problems between Shepherd and the Grey girl. Then there was Sloan with on-again, off-again relationship with the other Grey girl. Plus he had heard Sloan was the father of the lesbian couple's kid. Stone shook his head.

Stone pushed the ultrasound machine out of the room and headed back to his department, glad to be out of that madhouse.

Owen softly touched Cristina's face, "Why didn't you tell me? It's not something you could hide forever."

She looked at him, with tears filling her eyes. "I wasn't ready to deal with it with you as yet. I was hoping that I would have more time to be able to face you. Later, rather than sooner."

He asked, "You know I am very happy that you decided to keep the babies. What changed your mind? Why couldn't you come to me? I am your husband and these are _**our**_ babies."

A single tear rolled down her face as Cristina said, "I just couldn't do it when I found out it was twins. It was just so hard. I didn't come to you because you kicked me out of the house. I was hurt and very angry that you did something like that to me."

Owen shook his head, "I asked you to leave because you made a unilateral decision without me. I wanted us to think about it before we made a decision. You cut me out of it completely. Our marriage is supposed to be a partnership. We're supposed to make decisions together."

He added, "I think it is time you come home. Clearly, you're not taking care of yourself and I can't expect your friends to be as invested as I am in making this a healthy pregnancy. I want to take care of you. I want to be there for you. I want you to come to me, not your friends. I love you so much. Please come home, Cristina."

She stared at him, unable to commit to his request. "I am not ready," she said, quietly.

"Whenever you're ready, just call me and I will come for you. But hopefully, it will be sooner, rather than later," he said.

"Thank you for your concern, Dr Hunt. But I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I trust that you will keep this information about me to yourself and not share with the other attendings," Cristina said, defiantly.

"I see Jackson is back with my lunch. Can you let him come in? I assume that you have lots to do in the pit since you are the head of trauma," Cristina said, clearly dismissing Owen from her presence.

"Okay, I'll go. But you know this conversation, between you and me, is definitely not over," Owen said, opening the door to let Avery in. As he left, he could not see Cristina's face, as she had turned away from the door but he could see that she was shaking, a sign that she was sobbing uncontrollably. He could see the distress in Avery's face, as he watched her cry.

As he walked back to the pit, he caught sight of April, standing at the nurses' station. "Kepner," he said, "I am very disappointed in you. Every day, I have asked you about Cristina and not once, did you give me a hint about what was going on with her. You are the chief resident and you are supposed to be looking after the welfare of your fellow residents."

"I, I….am sorry, sir but Cristina threatened me with grievous bodily harm, if I told you anything," the meek redhead said.

Owen could not help but smile at his wife's audacity. "Kepner, I don't expect you to lie to me like that, ever again."

"Yes, sir," April said, "I am so relieved that you know. I didn't know how long I could keep it in."

As he walked away, he made the decision that he was going to take care of Cristina, whether she liked it or not. There was a joy in his heart that had not been there in months and a hope that maybe, he and his wife would be back together in the near future.


	4. Chapter 4 A new threat

**A/N: I am introducing a character called Dr James Morrison, a cardio thoracic surgeon.**

* * *

><p>Owen stopped at the local bakery to pick up Cristina's favorite croissants before he headed off to 613 Harper Lane. He had been making that trek to the Grey house for the past two weeks, since he found out that he was still going to be a dad. He brought her breakfast every morning and waited so he could take her to work. She seemed resentful at first, but Owen was not put off by her attitude.<p>

He was going to take care of her, no matter how grumpy she was. Her attitude had softened, as he made a special effort to bring her favorite things. Besides, he was determined to be a participant in this pregnancy experience. Knowing Cristina, this would probably be their first and last pregnancy and he was going to savor every moment of it. Maybe it was a blessing that they were having twins.

He knocked on the door and a still sleepy Lexie let him in. "Good morning, Grey." Lexie mumbled back her hello. He strode to Cristina's room, armed with the croissants, a tea for Cristina and a coffee for himself. He briefly knocked and opened the door and was unpleasantly surprised by the sight he beheld in front of him.

There was a bare-chested Jackson Avery, sitting up in Cristina's bed and clearly in a relaxed state with his arms tucked behind his head. He and Cristina were deep in conversation. Owen did note that while Cristina was still under the covers, Avery was on top of the covers. Small consolation, Owen thought, when you find a half-naked man sitting in your wife's bed.

"Hey," said Cristina. "Good morning, Dr. Hunt," said Jackson. With their nonchalant greetings, Owen surmised that nothing untoward was going on between them.

"I guess I will leave you two alone," Jackson said, as he hopped out of the bed. "I can't wait for the surgery today, Cristina."

As Owen watched Jackson's retreating figure, he handed over the croissants and the tea. As Cristina bit into her breakfast, Owen asked, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, Teddy is allowing us to run on our own today with a really cool surgery. Just Jackson and I will be in there to operate. She won't even be in the OR but will look on from the gallery," Cristina smiled, happily. "We're really excited."

"I'm excited for you, too. But can I say something?" he asked.

"Yup," Cristina sipped on the tea.

"I'm not a prude but you're my wife. This place is like a college dorm – people stay up all hours of the night, eat pizza and drink beer at 2 a.m. and obviously have discussions in each other's beds. It's the last one I am having a little trouble with it. I don't really appreciate a half-naked man, sitting in my wife's bed, having a conversation with her. I am sorry but that is just the way I feel. Any conversations you have with any guys, please have them outside of this bedroom and make sure that they are fully-clothed. Please," Owen said, as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Okay," she said, as she finished off her breakfast. "But Avery is with Lexie. Besides, if nothing happened the first time he kissed me, nothing is going to happen now."

"Excuse me, the first time he kissed you? When was this? Why didn't you tell me this?" Owen was agitated.

"Hmm, that was way back when we were third years. He laid one on me, back in my old apartment. I told him I was involved and that was it. It was nothing, a stupid nothing," Cristina said, casually.

"Since I never heard about it, it is not a stupid nothing to me. You never told me about it, just like I was never told that you were still pregnant. Are there other things that you haven't told me, Cristina?" he asked.

She didn't answer him and jumped out of bed and headed to the shower.

As Owen waited for her to return, he was even more resolute for her to move back into the firehouse with him.

* * *

><p>Owen settled himself into the viewing gallery for Cristina's surgery. Teddy and a new attending doctor came in and sat next to him.<p>

"Owen, this is Dr James Morrison. He has joined the cardio thoracic surgical department. Dr, Morrison, this is Dr Owen Hunt, head of trauma," Teddy introduced the two men.

They shook hands. Dr Morrison was a very handsome man with blue eyes and dark hair. He looked to be in his early forties. He had the arrogant air of a man who knew he was good-looking and used it to his full advantage.

"So who are we looking at here, Dr Altman?" asked Morrison.

"The surgeon is Dr Cristina Yang and her first assist is Dr. Jackson Avery," Teddy answered.

"They look really young to be doing this particular type of surgery," Morrison said. "Are they just residents?"

"Yes, but just wait. Look at her skills," Teddy said.

In that instant, Owen felt extremely proud of his wife. He knew she was an excellent surgeon and was so pleased that her skills were being recognized. As the surgery progressed, Morrison was mesmerized, watching Cristina's tiny geniuses work their magic on the patient.

"I am impressed," Morrison said to no one in particular.

* * *

><p>In the cafeteria, the status quo was in place, with the attendings having lunch together, while the residents sat apart. Meredith, Cristina and Alex were eating and chatting up a storm. Meredith had since forgiven Alex for ratting her out because as she put it, "If I want Derek to forgive me, I need to forgive Alex and understand why he did what he did." And with that, the three original interns became inseparable, once again.<p>

At the attendings' table, Owen was joined by Teddy, Morrison, Callie and Sloan. Morrison asked Teddy, "So tell me about Dr Yang?"

"Well, she went to your old alma mater, Stanford and topped the class in her year. Her surgical skills are far beyond what you would expect from someone who is just a resident. She is very exceptional. She is probably with the resident with the finest surgical skills in the program. She even saved our Head of Neuro's life during that shooting rampage we had last year and she operated with a gun to her head," Teddy told Morrison.

"Wow," said Morrison. "You really are her cheerleader."

"Ah," Teddy said. "That hasn't always been so. She is so brilliant that she is willing to take a few risks. We have never seen eye to eye on this."

Morrison chuckled, "So she is a little badass, is she? I like that."

He got up from the table, "Well, I have a very interesting surgery this afternoon. I wonder if young Dr. Yang will be willing to take a few risks with me." He winked and walked confidently towards the table with the three residents.

"Hmmm," Sloan said. "If I am not mistaken, Hunt, I do think that Morrison is planning to put the moves on your wife."

Owen watched Morrison touch his wife on her back, lean over and whisper into her ear. Cristina's face lit up like a Christmas tree and she nodded and smiled. There was nothing like a cool surgery to get Cristina excited. She got up and followed Morrison out of the cafeteria.

"Cristina would not cheat on me," he said firmly.

"Oh, come on, Hunt. Morrison is exactly your wife's type. Older guy in a position of power, a mentor-teacher type. Does that sound familiar to you, Hunt?" Sloan pressed on.

Owen repeated with less conviction, "Cristina would not cheat on me."

"Ow! Callie, stop kicking me!" Sloan told his baby mama.

"Stop it," Callie said, shaking her head. "Can't you see that you're upsetting him?"

"Hey, I am just telling him the truth. Man to man, Hunt. You two are separated now. She's young, lonely and vulnerable. Easy prey for someone like Morrison to just swoop in," Sloan said.

Owen looked at Sloan in disgust and it was only self-restraint that prevented him from punching him in the nose. He pushed away his lunch and headed back to the pit, deep in thought.


	5. Chapter 5 Revelation

With his shift over, Owen changed into his street clothes and wondered where Cristina was. He hadn't seen her since the lunch break, earlier that day, before she went off with Morrison to his surgery. He looked for her in the residents' lounge but she wasn't there. He sighed because he really wanted to spend the evening with her.

Heading to the lobby, he saw her. Her back was turned to him but he knew it was her. There was no one else with that lustrous head of ebony curls cascading down her back. She seemed to be all dressed up in a pretty purple dress and this set off alarm bells within himself.

"Cristina," he said. She turned around and she took his breath away. She looked amazing. "Why are you all dressed up? I thought that maybe we could go grab some take-out dinner together but it looks like you have other plans."

Cristina said, "Dr Morrison had tickets to a private lecture by Dr. Benjamin Horne and he invited me to come along. I am really thrilled because you know that Dr Horne is one of the superstars of cardio-thoracic surgery."

"I know, but aren't you over-dressed for a lecture? Where did you get that dress, by the way? You look lovely," Owen said, keeping his voice calm, even though he wanted to scream.

"Well, there is a cocktail reception and a book-signing after the lecture. I have always had this dress in my locker, hoping someday that my handsome husband would take me somewhere fancy after work. Kinda glad it has a full skirt, helps with hiding the baby bump," Cristina spun around to show off her dress.

At this point, Morrison showed up, as if on cue. "Good evening, Dr. Hunt. My, Dr. Yang, you do clean up nicely. Let's get out of here, so we won't be late."

As he led Cristina away to the hospital doors, Morrison placed his hand on her back, which made Owen cringe. He wanted to go and rip Morrison's hand off his wife's back but he didn't want to spoil it for Cristina. She had the opportunity to meet one of the greatest surgical minds in the world. He needed to trust that she wouldn't do anything to betray him. Still, he was starting to feel sick inside, until she turned around and ran back to him.

"Hey," she said, "Can I come over to the firehouse tonight? Remember this morning when you asked if there was anything else I haven't told you. Well, I need to tell you something. Maybe it will help explain some things. I'll leave right after I get my book signed because you know cocktail receptions really aren't my thing. I'll be there soon after."

"Yes," Owen felt relieved. "You can come over to the firehouse any time. You know that. It's your home, too. I'll wait up for you."

With that, Cristina ran back to meet Morrison, who gave Owen a quizzical look. "I don't think you're getting your paws on my wife tonight," Owen said quietly.

* * *

><p>Owen was excited that Cristina was coming over. He straightened up the place a bit and put out some snacks, in case she was hungry. "What the hell, Owen? You're acting like if you're starting to date all over again," he thought. But in a way, he was. He was trying to woo his wife back into his life. Time seemed to be moving way too slowly for him, as he waited for her. Why was she taking so long?<p>

He settled down on the couch and started reading his latest medical journal, until he heard the clicks of her high heels, coming up the steps.

"Hey," she said. "Thanks for waiting up."

"No problem. How was the lecture?" he said.

"Ooh, it was fabulous. Dr. Horne has done so many incredible surgeries in his life. He told us about some of his most difficult surgeries and how he came up with his techniques. He even signed a book for me. Gosh darn it, he put an 'h' in my name," she said, as she looked at the book in her hand.

"I'm glad you had a great time. Umm, I didn't want to tell you this earlier but since you are here now, I just think you should know that Morrison wants to get into your pants," Owen said.

"Oh, I knew that. It was confirmed when he asked me if I wanted to go to his apartment for a nightcap. I told him I was married to you. He couldn't put me in a cab fast enough. If I had told him I was pregnant, I think he would have run, screaming down the streets," Cristina chuckled. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to let me go to the lecture, without kicking up a fuss."

"Oh, I wanted to create a scene but I needed to trust you. I didn't trust him but I do trust you," Owen said. "Come sit next to me." He patted the space next to him on the couch.

As she snuggled under his arm, it felt so good, familiar and comforting to the two of them. "I've just realized I haven't been here in three months. The place looks really clean," Cristina said.

"Well, I haven't had someone to pick up after. Not that I minded picking up after that person. I really miss it and I wish she would come back," Owen said, as he nuzzled his face against her hair. Her scent always made me feel weak in the knees and he was certainly feeling that way, right now.

"I better start on what I came here I tell you. Hmm, I, I…..am not sure how to begin," Cristina stammered.. "I guess I should just come out and say it."

She looked at him and held his face in her hands, "Four years ago, when I was an intern, I got pregnant." Owen's mouth dropped open.

"Burke was the father but we weren't really in a relationship, then. It was just about sex and getting the good surgeries at that point in my life. I was going to tell him, but he broke off things with me, saying we had our careers and reputations to think about. He told me it was nothing personal."

Owen felt angry at a man he didn't even know. How could Burke have treated her like this, he thought.

She continued, "I decided to get an abortion – I had scheduled it but nature beat me to the punch. I had a miscarriage, actually an ectopic pregnancy. I almost bled out and I lost one of my fallopian tubes. I thought I would have been okay with it but for some reason, it wasn't okay. I just felt an unspeakable loss that I couldn't describe. I just couldn't stop crying.

"So when I got pregnant this time, I was more surprised that anything. Here I am, with my one fallopian tube, suddenly with child, while Meredith, who has been trying for months and months, just couldn't get pregnant.

"I have always thought that I wasn't going to have children. I just couldn't see a place for them in my life. I was going to be a career-driven woman. I never thought that I could be a good mom. My mom was never the best example of a good mom. I think she was more interested in her social activities, charities, gala affairs and re-decorating our house than she was about me.

"So that's why I made the decision to terminate the pregnancy but when the time came for the appointment, I started second-guessing myself because of how I reacted the last time when I lost it. So I had another ultrasound to help me make up my mind and that's when I found out it was twins. It just became doubly harder to terminate. I thought about it and Meredith helped me, too and then I decided that maybe, I could do it. I could be a mom. I may not be the greatest mom in the world but I will be the best mom I can be for my kids."

She let out a big breath. "Okay, you can say something now."

"I am so sorry you had to go through that before. But I am not Burke, I will always be here for you and our babies. I know you can be a great mom and I want to be a great dad. I know we can do it, together," Owen said, earnestly as he held her hand.

"Gosh, I feel a weight has been lifted, since I told you this," Cristina said. "So glad that I finally did it. Anyway, gotta go now. It's getting late." She stood up to go and Owen grabbed her hand. He pleaded, "Don't go, please stay, don't go."

He got up and held her face between his hands and crushed her lips underneath his. It was the first time he had tasted her lips in three months and it was like sweet nectar. It was like if he was a dying man, who had just tasted his first drops of water. He deepened the kiss and their tongues danced together, as their kissing became even more urgent. Without breaking their kiss, he picked up her up as she wrapped her legs around him and he carried her to their bed.

Three months of pent up sexual desire was coming to the fore. He could not stop kissing her, her face, her neck, her shoulders, her hands. He quickly unzipped the dress and slipped her out of her undergarments. She was naked before him and he gazed lovingly at the swell of her stomach. He bent down and kissed and caressed the bump. The thought that she was carrying his children turned him on even more. He had to have her now.

He hurriedly dragged off his tee-shirt, sweat pants and his boxer briefs. Their lovemaking was desperate like two drowning souls clinging to a life-raft; they held on to each other, savoring the taste, the smell, the feel of one another. Like they never wanted to let each other go. Their bodies thrashed wildly together until they both climaxed. It was not only a physical release of need and desire, but also an emotional one of love and hope.

And then, they made love again.

* * *

><p>Cristina opened the front door quietly at 613 Harper Lane. She had her shoes in her hand, so she wouldn't make a lot of noise since it was still really early in the morning.<p>

"Well, well, well, Cristina Yang, still wearing the dress she had on last night and carrying her shoes in her hand. Clearly, you're doing the walk of shame." Meredith's voice startled her. Meredith was sitting in the living room, feeding Zola a bottle of milk.

"What are you doing up?" Cristina questioned.

"Zola wanted an early breakfast, it seems," Meredith said. "Please, don't tell me you slept with Morrison."

"Noooo!" Cristina protested. "I slept with my husband."

"Whoohoo! So we both had a good night," Meredith smiled.

"You had a good night, too? What happened?" Cristina came and sat down next to Meredith.

Meredith could not stop grinning. "Derek came over last night to talk about Zola. We're meeting the social workers next week and clearly, we cannot continue the way we have been going if we want to keep Zola. So we had a long talk, last night about everything – the trial, what I did, Zola, our future.

"He said he had needed the space to think about what I had done and what he wanted for the future. He said he wanted to be a family with Zola and me. He said he realized that was the one thing he wanted most. So while he still hasn't fully forgiven me for what I did, he was willing to work through it."

"Well, good for you," Cristina said, "Did he stay the night?"

Meredith nodded with a big, broad smile.

Cristina said, "So we both got nookie, last night. Things are looking up at Harper Lane."

"So are you going to move in back with Owen?" Meredith queried.

"I don't know. It was just one night. Let's see how things go," Cristina said, as she headed to her room.

Back at the firehouse, Owen was still snuggled under his blankets and reached over to pull his wife closer. Unfortunately, his arms met an empty space.

"Cristina?" he called out, hoping she was in the bathroom. But he was met with silence. He reached for her pillow, so he could breathe in her scent. A paper rustled under his fingers – it was a note with Cristina's unmistakable penmanship.

He read, "I went home to get changed. See you at the hospital, Cristina."

He sighed, "Oh, Cristina. Haven't you realized as yet, you were already home."

.


	6. Chapter 6 Owen tells Teddy

Since the night that Cristina spent at the firehouse, everything seemed to be going really well between him and Cristina, Owen thought to himself.

Cristina had spent almost every night with him since then but she still hadn't officially moved back to the firehouse as yet. She was no longer running back to Meredith's house in the morning because she started bringing a fresh set of clothes whenever she stayed, tossing her dirty clothes into the laundry basket. Whenever Owen did the laundry, he noted with some satisfaction, that more and more of her clothing was coming back to the firehouse. It gave him a special pleasure to put them away in her closet.

As for the sex, it seemed the floodgates had opened. Hormones were ruling Cristina's sex drive and it seemed that she couldn't get enough. It was therefore very fortunate that she worked in the same place as her husband and there were lots of on-call rooms for a quickie here and there. Not that Owen minded, he was willing to give his wife as much loving as she wanted.

Cristina was now five months pregnant and she had moved up to the medium-sized scrubs. She was still hiding it well by wearing looser scrubs but to Owen, it seemed so obvious to him that she was pregnant. He saw the changes in her naked body but he felt that even with clothes, it was apparent. Yet none of the attendings acknowledged what he saw.

It was so noticeable, he thought, her hair is even more lustrous, thick and gorgeous and she had that special glow to her skin. Even the way she walked was different. She moved now with a slower gait. Did people not see that this tiny person's body seemed to have blossomed overnight? Either the people around here were wearing blinkers or were too self-absorbed in their own affairs to notice anything. He did see Bailey giving his wife a curious glance but she, too, did not ask any questions.

He had broached the subject with Cristina about letting people know about the pregnancy but she begged off, saying that she wanted people to treat her like they normally did. Deep down, it really annoyed him because he wanted to tell everyone because he was so proud and happy. He was thinking about this, when he bumped into Teddy.

"Hey, Hunt. I just made your wife a very delighted resident," Teddy said.

"What? Some intriguing surgery, again? Besides me, that is the only thing that gets her excited," he joked.

"I will ignore that. I have a 12-hour surgery tomorrow and I have assigned her as my first assist. Just told her and she was ecstatic," Teddy said.

Owen was suddenly torn. There was no way that Cristina, in her present state, would be able to withstand a 12-hour surgery. A surgery like that was difficult in normal circumstances, let alone for someone, halfway through her pregnancy.

He knew he had to say something. "Um, Teddy, is it possible that you can get someone else to assist you?"

"Why?" Teddy asked. "Cristina has the best skills of any resident to do this. Why can't she do it?"

"I would prefer that you ask someone else. I don't think she would be able to handle it," Owen said.

"But, last year, Cristina assisted me with a 14-hour surgery and she was fine. Is there something you need to tell me? What is wrong?" Teddy demanded.

"She's five months pregnant. With twins. There, I said it. Haven't you noticed anything at all?" Owen queried.

"Wow, Hunt. Wow. Congratulations! Twins! Wow. Why didn't she say anything?" Teddy asked. "I did notice that she was putting on some weight but I didn't think anything of it because she is really small and a little bit of poundage wouldn't hurt her."

"She didn't want anybody to treat her any differently," he said.

"Well, I can understand how she feels. But her health and well-being should be foremost, so I will get Avery to assist me. Congratulations, Owen, you will be a great dad," Teddy smiled and walked away.

With that, Owen knew what was coming. He went back to the pit and he waited for the inevitable arrival of Hurricane Cristina, expected to storm through, packing gale force winds.

* * *

><p>A beaming Avery came into the cafeteria and sat down with Meredith, Cristina and Lexie.<p>

"What are you so happy about?" Meredith asked.

"Altman just called me about some 12-hour surgery tomorrow and she asked me to first assist," Jackson gloated.

"What?" Cristina screamed. "She told me that I was going to first assist. How is that possible? I have better hands than Avery. What the hell is going on?"

"Maybe she was talking about something else, Jackson," Lexie said, worried that Cristina in a highly agitated state, would not be good for the babies.

"Nope," he said. "There's only one 12-hour surgery going on tomorrow in cardio and I am on it."

"I am going to get to the bottom of this," Cristina stormed out of the cafeteria to confront Teddy. "This is my surgery!"

* * *

><p>Cristina walked as fast as she possibly could to the cardio wing, in search of Teddy and found her at the nurses' station.<p>

"Dr Altman, Dr Altman. Avery just told me that he will be assisting you for tomorrow's surgery. Is that true?" Cristina was trying to keep calm but she was livid on the inside.

"Yes, that's true. I was going to call you about that. Why didn't you tell me the good news?" Teddy asked.

"What good news?" Cristina looked puzzled.

"Your pregnancy! The twins! Owen told me. In your present state, I really can't expect you to endure such a long surgery," Teddy told her.

"Owen told you?" Cristina was furious and was already on her way to have a heated discussion with her husband.

When he saw her, storming through the pit, he knew what was coming.

"Can I speak to you in private, Dr Hunt?" she said, icily.

"Yes, we can go the exam room 1," he said, bracing himself for the wrath of Cristina.

Within seconds of him closing the door behind him, she shouted, "How dare you? How could you do such a thing? You told Teddy about the pregnancy, after we had this discussion that about not telling anyone."

"Come on, Cristina. It's a 12-hour surgery. You wouldn't be able to last through that. You're exhausted after a four-hour surgery and you need to lie down. How do you expect to be able to endure a surgery three times as long?" he countered.

She started to cry; she didn't want to because she was furious but she knew her husband was right. Gosh, this pregnancy has made her into a weepy mess, she thought.

"Cristina, you know I can't let anything happen to you or them. You're my family; you're all I've got. I would die if anything happened to you, or Hortense and Mortimer," Owen said, softly.

The names brought a smile to Cristina's face and she giggled, "Hortense and Mortimer – no way in hell."

"There we go. I knew that would make you laugh." He touched her head with his own.

"How do you know it's a boy and a girl?" she asked.

"I don't but I thought it might be nice to have one of each. But if it's two boys or two girls, I will be just as happy," he said.

He added, "As for this not telling anybody about the babies, I think we should start letting people know. I think it's time. For one, the cat is already out of the bag. Teddy knows and she is bound to mention it to someone else."

She agreed, "Okay."

"So," he said, "what if we tell the first person we see when we leave this room? Get the ball rolling." She nodded.

As they left the room, the first person in their line of sight was Dr. Bailey.

"Dr. Bailey, Cristina and I have something wonderful to tell you."

Bailey stopped. "You mean that she is pregnant?"

"Um, how did you know?" Owen asked.

"Because I got two eyes, Hunt. Cristina is an itty-bitty thing and I can see she's putting on weight in only one area. I am also a mommy, I went through this before. I was wondering when you two were going to make it public. Congratulations! I know it is going to be a beautiful baby," Bailey walked off, leaving the couple dumbfounded.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Owen said.

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "Let's tell someone else."


	7. Chapter 7 A beached whale

**A/N: If there is really an establishment called A Visit from the Stork, I do apologize. I just thought it was a cool name for a baby store.**

* * *

><p>Owen had picked up the rest of Cristina's clothes from Meredith's house. She was already spending all of her free time at the firehouse, anyway. She didn't say she was moving back in; she just stayed. Owen took that as his cue to get the rest of her belongings from Harper Lane.<p>

Not that it mattered anyway, none of her clothes fit her. Something strange had happened to Cristina's body. After months of successfully hiding her pregnancy, she suddenly expanded. It was as if her body had caught up to the idea that it was pregnant with twins. Nothing fit her except for Owen's tee shirts, which she wore as nightwear, and several pairs of sweatshirts and sweatpants, which she wore as daywear.

After four days of seeing Cristina schlep to work in a sweat suit, Callie had had enough and needed to confront Owen.

"What the hell, Hunt?" Callie said. "Why is she wearing that? Come on, there are so many cute maternity outfits now."

"I have tried. I keep telling her we need to go and shop for maternity clothes. I think she is in a state of denial," Hunt said. "Besides, I think she is in a dark and twisty place, right now, concerning her body."

"I can understand how she feels. One day, Cristina is a size zero and a couple of months later, she is a Size All. Okay, take this name and address of this maternity wear store. Just take her, don't tell her where you're going. If she is in denial, she won't go willingly," Callie said, as she forced a piece of paper into his hand.

So, that afternoon, Owen and Cristina ended up at A Visit from the Stork, a fine establishment for designer maternity wear, baby furniture, baby clothing and baby accessories. She was reluctant but Owen forced her to go in. The sales associates were treated to the sight of a tall, red-headed man pulling a small, pregnant Asian woman into the store.

"May I help you?" asked a tall, blonde associate.

"Yes, we need to get some maternity wear for my wife, so she will stop wearing these sweat suits," Owen said.

"I see," said the blonde, looking at Cristina, up and down. "My name is Sandy and I will be your personal shopper this afternoon. I am sure we can find lots of cute stuff for your wife. May I ask your names?"

"I am Dr Hunt and this is my wife, Dr Yang," Owen said.

The sales associate's eyes lit up as she clearly saw dollar signs, when she heard the word, "doctor." Sandy started flitting around the store and quickly brought a few outfits for Cristina to try on.

She set Cristina up in a dressing room and both she and Owen patiently waited for her to come out. Her first outfit was a dress and she looked very cute, Owen thought. One thing though, tears were rolling down her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, very concerned.

"Oh, no," said Sandy, "Not another one. We recently changed the lighting in our dressing rooms and even I have to admit, it is pretty harsh and unflattering in there. We have had several customers come out of there in tears. I think she probably saw her body in the worst possible light." Sandy made a mental note to remind management to soften the lighting in the dressing rooms.

Cristina came out and rested her head against Owen's chest. "I am a big, fat cow. I am an elephant. I am like a beached whale, with my belly up in the air," she sobbed.

Aware of her current body issues, Owen said, "No, you're not. You're beautiful. You're going to be a mom. This is only going to be for a short while and when they're born, you will be back to your normal self. Besides, I don't care how you look right now, I love you. Tell you what, I will get you anything that you want. Don't cry."

At that point, it was difficult to tell who was happier at that statement – Cristina or Sandy. The dollar signs in Sandy's eyes grew even larger.

"Well, okay, then. Dr Yang, I have a ton more stuff for you to try on," Sandy said.

After two hours of intense shopping, Cristina finally got a new wardrobe of maternity wear.

Sandy rang up the bill, "$3,572.42."

Owen was appalled, as he handed over his credit card. He had never spent that much on himself in clothes, especially given his humble childhood. He looked at Cristina, who seemed unfazed by the bill. Leave it to me, he thought, to marry a woman born and bred in Beverly Hills, who probably spent her childhood, shopping on Rodeo Drive with her mom. Plus he also remembered it was Callie, also born into a privileged childhood, who had recommended this store.

Cristina's spirits seemed greatly improved on the way back home. "I got some really terrific stuff and some of it was on sale," she said. "Did you see all of the fabulous baby furniture and accessories they had in there, and remember we have to get two of each."

Owen thought, "Babies really are expensive and they're not even here as yet." Then, he looked at Cristina and saw how happy she was, the $3,500 in clothes was definitely worth it, he thought.

* * *

><p>Cristina woke up, to find Owen staring at her. "Morning," she said. "Morning, baby," he replied and kissed her on the lips. He raised her tee-shirt and dropped two kisses on her bump. "Morning, babies."<p>

"What do you have this morning?" he asked.

"I'm with Bailey, this morning and then I have the appointment with Dr Stone at two, this afternoon," she said. "You'll be able to make the appointment?"

"Of course," he said. "It's already in my calendar. Kepner will handle the pit, while I am with you. You know I won't miss any appointment."

So after a shower and breakfast, they headed off to work. Callie saw Cristina's snazzy new outfit and nodded approvingly to Owen.

"You did good, Hunt!" she said, as they passed her.

"What was that all about?" Cristina asked.

"Oh, it was Callie who gave me the name of the baby store," he told her.

"Well, I guess I should thank her," Cristina said. She kissed him, briefly on the lips, as she headed to the residents' lounge.

The next time, she saw him was at Dr Stone's office that afternoon. He came rushing in, just in time.

"I almost thought you weren't going to make it," she said.

"Car crash victims. Unfortunately, both died," he said.

"It must be tough in trauma," Stone said. "All those deaths. That's why I like bringing babies into the world. Nothing more beautiful."

"So, as I was telling Dr. Yang before you came in. Everything is fine. Blood pressure is good, our lab results were good – blood sugar levels are normal. Your weight levels are where it should be. She is the picture of health for someone who is 24 weeks. So let's get down to the ultrasound. I know this is new parents' favorite part of the appointment."

It really was Owen's favorite part of the appointment. When he saw his babies' faces on the 3D ultrasound, he always felt overwhelmed with joy.

More than watching the babies, Cristina liked to look at the change in Owen's face, as he stared at the images. "I love this man," she thought.

"Do you want to know the sex of the babies?" Dr Stone asked. "I can tell you now."

Owen and Cristina looked at each other and they shook their heads. "No, we will wait. We want to be surprised," Cristina said.

Stone looked at the pair and he was glad to see that it seemed like everything had been working out between the two doctors. Considering how they were getting along a few months ago, he had his doubts about whether they were going to make it.

Always good to see a happy couple, he thought.

"So, we know that full term for twins is usually around 36 weeks. So we have about 12 more weeks to go. Our appointments are going to pick up to every two weeks, now. I don't think that should be a problem, since you both work here," Stone said.

As they left the OB's office, Cristina said, "Twelve more weeks. I am already feeling huge. How can I last that long?"

"We'll make it," Owen said and he put his arm around her.


	8. Chapter 8 Marlowe returns

"Hey guys, have you heard?" Lexie ran up excitedly to Cristina, Meredith and Alex in the cafeteria.

"Heard what, Lex?" Meredith asked.

"Colin Marlowe is going to do a Marlowe transplant tomorrow here in the hospital. The Colin Marlowe. Wow, isn't that exciting? We can see the Marlowe transplant first hand," Lexie answered, unable to contain her glee.

At the news, Alex guffawed, Meredith grinned and Cristina's face turned to stone. Not quite the reception that Lexie was expecting, when she delivered the news.

"What's so funny?" Lexie asked in a perplexed tone.

"Can I tell her?" Meredith asked Cristina.

"Sure, go ahead. Add to my misery," Cristina answered.

"Colin Marlowe is Cristina's ex-boyfriend. She was with him for three years when she was in med school at Stanford," Meredith said, amused at her best friend's discomfort.

"You're kidding! You're not kidding! Ooh, Cristina. Isn't he old?" Lexie exclaimed.

"Hey, you're the one who was with Sloan, who is like 15 years older than you," Cristina said.

"Yeah, but Marlowe is twice your age," Lexie said. "Anyway, I gotta tell Jackson that Marlowe is here. We have to be sure we're in the viewing gallery tomorrow."

As they watched Lexie exit the cafeteria, Meredith turned to Cristina, "Are you going to see him?"

"No, of course not. I am going to avoid him like the plague. He can't see me the way I look now," Cristina said.

"Why not? You have easy access to one of the greatest cardio gods in the world," Alex asked.

"Because, Alex, I look like I swallowed a 20-pound watermelon. Don't you know that it is one of the rules of girldom that you have to look hot, when you meet your ex again? I can't look hot, when I am in this state," Cristina said.

"Might be hard to avoid, Cristina. I am certain he is going to ask for you. You were definitely the highlight of his last visit," Meredith said.

"Well, I am going to do my best to avoid him," Cristina said, resolutely.

* * *

><p>Teddy waited in the lobby for the arrival of the one and only Dr Colin Marlowe. The Chief had ordered her to be the welcoming party for Dr Marlowe and to ensure all of his needs were met. It was quite a coup to have Dr Marlowe perform the Marlowe transplant at Seattle Grace Mercy West.<p>

When he entered the hospital doors, Dr Marlowe looked around, hoping to catch sight of anyone familiar. Actually, he was only looking for one person but alas, she was not anywhere to be found. There was this blonde woman coming towards him with an outstretched hand.

"Hello, Dr Marlowe, it is a huge honor to meet you. I am Dr Teddy Altman, head of Cardio Thoracic Surgery. The Chief has told me that I should see that you have everything you need for this operation," Teddy said, as she put out her hand to shake his.

"Ah, Dr Altman," Marlowe said. "Good to meet you. You're head of Cardio? What happened to Preston Burke?"

"Dr Burke? He left four years ago. I think he is at John Hopkins,' Teddy said. "There have been a few cardio heads since he left and I am the current head."

"So, it has been a revolving door around here in cardio. Hmm, that's not good. By any chance, is there a young resident by the name of Cristina Yang still here?" he asked, hoping that his voice did not betray his true feelings.

"Well, yes. She is now a fifth year," Teddy look puzzled. Why would he be asking about a resident?

"If she is still here and Burke is in Baltimore, I guess that means she didn't marry him. Hmm. Don't mind my ramblings, Dr Altman. It's just that Dr Yang was a student of mine at Stanford. She was a very special student," he said.

Teddy certainly caught the underlying current in the statement that Cristina was a "very special student." Hmm, Teddy thought, Colin Marlowe _**and**_ Preston Burke. For a resident, Cristina Yang certainly knew how to catch the eye of world-famous cardio gods. "My, my, Cristina, that is impressive," Teddy thought.

"Well, I would like her to assist in the surgery, tomorrow, if that is not too much trouble. I would like to check on her progress. I haven't seen her since she was an intern. She should be looking at fellowships, now. Do you know if she has accepted any as yet?" Marlowe enquired.

"I don't think so but she has already received quite a few offers, including one from Seattle Grace. She's already comfortable here and there are quite a few things here that might just keep her at Seattle Grace. She is an exceptional surgeon, as you probably well know," Teddy answered.

At that moment, Owen was passing by and Teddy called out to him.

"Dr Hunt, come let me introduce you to Dr Colin Marlowe. He is in Seattle to do a Marlowe transplant tomorrow. Dr Marlowe, this is Dr Owen Hunt, Head of Trauma."

Owen put out his hand and warmly shook Marlowe's hand. "Honor to meet you, sir!" Owen said, enthusiastically. "I will be certainly viewing the surgery, tomorrow."

Teddy smiled enigmatically to the two men. "You two have a lot in common."

Marlowe and Hunt both looked at her in puzzlement.

* * *

><p>Teddy went in search of Cristina, who was on Bailey's service again this week. She found her sitting on a gurney, updating her charts.<p>

"Dr Yang, I have had a special request for you to assist in a surgery, tomorrow." Teddy said.

"By any chance, if it is the Marlowe transplant, I am not available," Cristina said, firmly. "I have a gall bladder surgery tomorrow and a fempop."

"Cristina, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to assist the great Colin Marlowe doing the Marlowe transplant," Teddy urged.

"That's old hat to me. I have seen the Marlowe transplant before, twice in fact, back in medical school. Nothing new to me," Cristina said.

"Alright, Cristina, if that's what you want. I will get Avery and Lexie Grey to scrub in," Teddy said, as she walked away.

* * *

><p>Lexie and Jackson were beyond ecstatic to find out that instead of being in the viewing gallery, they were actually going to be in the OR with Dr Marlowe.<p>

"How is this possible?" Jackson said. "I was sure they were going to ask Cristina to assist."

"I think we got in by default," said Lexie. "I am pretty sure that Cristina turned it down."

"Why? This is Colin Marlowe!" Avery exclaimed.

"Well, I heard this morning, that Dr Marlowe is Cristina's ex-boyfriend back when she was at Stanford," Lexie whispered.

"But isn't he ancient?" Jackson said. "No wonder….."

"No wonder what?" Lexie queried.

"No wonder she didn't take me seriously when I hit on her, two years ago. I always knew she liked older guys but not this old. I must have seemed like a pup to her."

Lexie's face fell. This was the first time she had ever heard of Jackson, making a move on Cristina.

"Oh, come on," he said. "That was way before we even got together. You're my girl." He kissed her on the nose. "Let's do some prep for the transplant, tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Dr. Marlowe waited in the OR and watched all of the personnel file in. Dr Altman was there and so were these two young residents. Where was Cristina Yang?<p>

"Dr Altman, I asked for Dr Yang. Where is she?" Marlowe said.

"Umm, I did try but it seems Dr Yang is busy, this morning. She isn't available to assist," Teddy said, staring at the ground.

"Very well, then let's get started,' he said.

Cristina, having finished her gall bladder removal surgery, sneaked into the viewing gallery, which was full of curious attendings, residents and interns. It was standing room only. Owen was already there at the front. He waved for her to join him.

"Sit on my lap. You shouldn't be standing," he said. She did as she was told and he wrapped his arms around her.

At that same moment, Marlowe caught a look at the gallery, just in time to see Cristina sit on a man's lap. "Good God," he thought. "It's that trauma surgeon from yesterday. I can't believe she is with a trauma surgeon." He saw the red-headed man wrap his arms around Cristina and kiss her lightly on her neck. It made him wince, inwardly.

"How is it going?" Cristina asked Owen.

"I have to say that the man is a genius," Owen said, appreciatively.

"I always knew that," she said. "He was my professor at Stanford."

"That must have been interesting, having him as a professor," he said.

"Yes, it was," she said, quietly.

* * *

><p>It was late evening. Cristina had finished her fempop surgery and she had managed to avoid seeing Marlowe for the day. She was going to call it a successful day – two good surgeries and being able to evade Marlowe. She headed to the residents' lounge, wondering what sort of take-out she should get for dinner tonight.<p>

She had almost made it when a voice, with a crisp English accent, called out from behind her, "Cristina Yang." She knew the owner of the voice and slowly turned around.

"Hello, Dr Marlowe."


	9. Chapter 9 The shouting match

"Bloody hell, Cristina. What have you done to yourself?" Marlowe exclaimed, as he eyed her seven-month pregnant body.

"I'm with child. Two, in fact," Cristina answered, more than a little peeved. She got more than a little satisfaction to see his shocked face when she told him that it was twins.

"And you're with that trauma surgeon - Hunt? I assume he is the father. I saw you two together in the viewing gallery for my surgery, after I was told that you were unavailable to assist," Marlowe said, a bitter tone to his voice.

"Well, I know we have a lot of history and I didn't want that history to get in way of the surgery," she said.

"No, no, no. You just wanted to avoid me. How is it that you are with a trauma surgeon, Cristina? Where is the finesse in that? Trauma is only a little better than a butcher shop," Marlowe said, scathingly.

He continued, "I could understand why you were with Burke. I didn't like the man but he was a brilliant cardio-thoracic surgeon and I knew he could teach you, properly. But what can this trauma guy do for you?"

Cristina was taken aback. "I am not with him because of what he can do for me. I am with him because I love him. He is my husband."

"Your husband?" he scoffed. "I wasn't surprised when I heard that things didn't work out between you and Burke because I knew you as a girl who couldn't commit to getting married. I asked you so many times to marry me so I am really surprised that you actually went through with a wedding."

"Well, maybe I was just waiting for the right person to come along," she said, firmly, to let him know that he was not the "right person."

"So what does this all mean, you're taking the mommy track now? What about your dreams of a brilliant career in cardio-thoracic surgery? Why did you think I put so many hours of training into you? You were an outstanding student and I knew you were going to be a one of a kind surgeon. What the hell has happened to you, Cristina?" Marlowe said, his voice rising to match his ire, angry that his brilliant student had seemingly thrown away her career, in addition to any possible future he may have fantasized about her.

"I am still going to have that brilliant career I always imagined," Cristina said, defiantly, as her voice also rose to match her indignation. She could not believe that Marlowe was standing in front of her, criticizing her life choices.

"How dare you condemn me about the choices I am making about my life? You are just my former professor and former boyfriend. Note the emphasis on the word 'former.' Yeah, you may be the great Colin Marlowe but I am not going to stand for your judgement on what I have done with my life. I am no longer the 25-year-old med student, who was so in awe of you," she spat out.

"So, you're going to have a baby in one hand and the other baby in the next. What hand are you going to use to hold the scalpel? All these babies would just be a distraction for what you can achieve as a surgeon. You would be juggling too many things at the same time," Marlowe exclaimed, loudly.

"Perhaps you should know the second reason I came to Seattle Grace. I retired from Stanford and am now on the board at the Cleveland Clinic. I came to offer you a fellowship at a world-class facility and I was willing to personally supervise your training. But now, I am not so sure that you are worthy of such an offer," Marlowe said.

"I don't want anything from you because we both know that you're not just offering a fellowship. You want something more from me. You want me but not the me that I am now. You want that girl, who used to hang on every word that you said. I am not that girl anymore," she screamed.

Their altercation had drawn more than a few curious stares. How could this lowly resident be having a shouting match with the great Colin Marlowe, cardio god extraordinaire? The nurses whispered among themselves. Meredith and Alex looked on in awe at their friend, standing up for herself. The interns looked a little scared. There was one person who was very disturbed by what he saw. The distress was evident on Dr Hunt's face.

Cristina stalked off and ran into the residents' lounge, so angry that she could feel the bitter tears rolling down her cheeks. Dr Marlowe looked around at the crowd that had gathered and exited the scene in a huff. The crowd slowly broke up, leaving behind a dumbfounded trauma surgeon, unable to fully comprehend what he had just witnessed.

Meredith followed Cristina into the residents' lounge. Her friend was sitting on the bench in front of her locker, shaking and sobbing at the same time. "Hey, Cristina, it's okay," Meredith said in a soothing voice and sat down next to her person. Cristina rested her head on Meredith's shoulder while her friend hugged her close.

"I just knew that something like this was going to happen if I saw him today. I just knew it. The man is so annoying and aggravating. I can't even imagine that I used to be with him," Cristina whimpered.

The two best friends sat together, locked in an embrace. Owen stood at the doorway in silence. He walked away, giving the twisted sisters their time together. He and Meredith have always had their issues with one another, as they often vied for Cristina's love and attention. He knew that they each considered themselves Cristina's soul mate. But whatever differences he and Meredith had, he knew not to intrude on her and Cristina's time together. Meredith was providing his wife the comfort she needed right now.

He needed to talk to Cristina about the very public argument with Marlowe but he decided maybe it was better they did it in the privacy of their own home. He was giving her the space and time to calm down before they could have their own conversation. It was a conversation he desperately needed to have.

* * *

><p>They drove home in silence. She sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window. He put his hand on her leg and she placed her much smaller hand on his and squeezed it. He felt better by that small gesture because whatever anger she felt, it was not aimed at him.<p>

He parked his truck and took her hand as he helped her go up the three flights of stairs at the firehouse, leading to their loft on the top floor. Navigating stairs were becoming harder for Cristina and he imagined that it was going to get worse as she got closer to term.

"Soon, you have to hire a crane to get me up to this loft," Cristina joked. It made him smile that she still could find some humor, even though she was emotionally drained.

"I feel for some shrimp pad thai today," Cristina told Owen, as he rifled through their extensive take-out menu collection. There were times that Owen would cook but after a hard day, it was just easier to order take-out. Today also didn't seem like a day to be eating from a cereal box for dinner.

"Alright," he said as he quickly dialled the restaurant with their order.

He watched her sit on the couch, just staring into space. He ventured easily, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked at him, "Did you hear about it or did you actually see it?"

"I saw the crowd and wondered what was going on. I only saw the last part of it, when he was saying something about a fellowship at Cleveland Clinic and you shouting back at him," he said. "Then you ran into the residents' lounge and Meredith went running after you. I saw you and Meredith together and she was doing a good job, comforting you. You seemed so stressed and I didn't want to pressure you further, so I figured we could talk about it at home. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes because everybody is going to talk about it and you shouldn't be in the dark. This is so ironic – I am the most private person in the hospital and I am the one that gets involved in a public shouting match with a cardio god," she let out a huge breath.

"Colin Marlowe and I had a relationship when I was at Stanford. He was my professor. We were together for three years. To be honest, he taught me well. He is an excellent surgeon and an amazing mentor. He had asked me to marry him but I knew it wasn't right. That's why I took the residency at Seattle Grace, so I could end that chapter of my life."

"Okay, Cristina. I don't mean to be facetious but isn't Marlowe really, really old for you? He must be around 60, that is like twice your age," Owen said.

Cristina rolled her eyes, "As if I hadn't heard that one all day. I will choose to ignore that one for now. In any case, our argument today was about you, me, the babies and my career. He said I was headed to the mommy track and all his training had been wasted. That I couldn't have a brilliant surgical career because having babies was going to stop me from achieving greatness. That he was going to offer me a fellowship at Cleveland Clinic but I didn't seem worthy of it now."

He hugged her closer to him. "That was harsh," he said. "What did he say about me?"

Cristina snorted, "Well, he totally dissed you. Said he couldn't believe that I was with a trauma surgeon and what could a trauma surgeon ever teach me. He said something about trauma being akin to butchery."

Owen asked, softly, "Are you ashamed of me, Cristina? That I am in trauma and not an award-winning cardio god."

"No…..why would I be? You are one of the best trauma surgeons ever. You've taught me a lot. I wouldn't change you for all the Colin Marlowes in the world," Cristina said, emphatically. "Besides, I love you."

She added, "I think he was most disappointed that I didn't fall into his arms, after he had heard that Burke and I didn't get married. He probably thought he had an open playing field but he was shell-shocked by your existence and these two little ones." She patted her baby bump.

They were interrupted by the door buzzer. "Looks like the shrimp pad thai is here." Owen got up, grabbed his wallet and headed down the stairs. He was feeling a little more relieved about everything.

They had a quiet evening, enjoying each other's company and the shrimp pad thai. As they lay in bed later that night, Owen said, "You know you are still going to be a brilliant cardio-thoracic surgeon because your talent cannot be denied. I am going to support everything you do. As for our children, it's the two of us, we're going to bring them up together. Don't you ever think that it is going to be you alone to do this."

Cristina yawned, "I know."

Owen said, "Cristina, I have to ask. How did the old guy perform? I mean he's old."

"Oh my God," Cristina shrieked. "Why does everybody have to ask that? Let's just say the little blue pill is a miracle drug."

Owen had to laugh; he couldn't help it. "Let me show what I can do. No drugs required," he whispered, as he drew her into a deep kiss.

"Mmmm," was all Cristina could say.


	10. Chapter 10 Going into labor

Dr. Callie Torres was having a really hard day and desperately needed some distraction, when she heard some chuckling coming from Owen Hunt's office. She peered in his open doorway to see him, laughing at his computer screen.

She briefly knocked on his open door to catch his attention. "Hey, what's going on? Why are you laughing? I need a good laugh. I have been having a horrible day and I need some amusement."

He grinned, "I left on the webcam at home and I am watching Cristina. Her struggling to get off the bed to go to the bathroom is the funniest thing ever. She kinds of rolls over, drops on all fours and then raises herself off the ground."

"Are you spying on her?" Callie said.

"No, I am not," Owen said, emphatically.

"Does she know that you have the webcam on?" Callie asked.

"No," Owen said as he laughed again at the images on the monitor.

"Then you're spying, Hunt," Callie said, even though she, too, was looking at the computer images.

"I am not spying. I left the webcam on so that I can check up on her to see that she is alright during the day. I really don't like leaving her alone. I also miss her since she isn't here and I just can look at her and feel better," Owen said.

"What has she been doing?" Callie asked.

"Well, I think she has been looking for some entertainment. She started watching her surgical DVDs but I think she got tired of that. Right now, it seems she may be watching Jersey Shore because I heard her yell 'GTL' and do a fist pump. I am looking at my wife steadily lose brain cells, while she watches Jersey Shore," Owen chuckled.

"If she really wants entertainment, I can send over a naked, male stripper to dance for her," Callie joked. Owen turned around and gave her an unappreciative stare. "Whoa, Hunt, sorry. I was just joking. Sheesh," Callie said, as she left his office. Owen took a final look at his computer one more time and caressed the image of his wife, before he headed down to the pit.

Back at the firehouse, Cristina was in fact viewing a Jersey Shore marathon on MTV. She had never seen this before. Who had time to watch television when you're a surgical resident? It was fascinating, this guido/guidette sub-culture, she thought, where everybody is tanned and muscled, and it seemed that imbibing copious amounts of alcohol and sleeping with random people were necessary for the lifestyle. It might prove to be a fascinating anthropological study, she concluded.

Cristina was on doctor-ordered bed rest from Dr Stone. She was already at 32 weeks and had been having great difficulties, functioning as a surgeon at the hospital. The heavy weight of her body was taking a great toll on her small frame. She couldn't stand for more than an hour without her feet swelling and aching, not a good thing for a surgeon. Plus walking, or in her case, waddling, was becoming harder, as she tried to do her rounds. Sometimes, her friends pushed her in a wheelchair so she could get around.

Bailey was distressed to see one of her babies in this state, especially Cristina, the most driven of them all, who was known for literally running to get the good surgeries. She went to Hunt, gave him a patented Bailey stare and said, "It's time for her stay at home until the babies come."

Owen knew the only way that Cristina would do that would be if the doctor ordered it, so at their last appointment with Dr Stone, he made sure to point out how much she was struggling at work. Stone concurred that it was time for Cristina to go on bed rest for the last four weeks of the pregnancy. They discussed the options of inducing labor and having it naturally, or going with a C-section. The hours of labor did not appeal to Cristina, so they opted for a C-section.

"Just four more weeks, Dr Yang, and you will have your little babies," Dr Stone smiled, genially. Cristina wondered what she was going to do at home for four weeks.

So, there she was, at 11 a.m. on a Thursday, watching a Jersey Shore marathon. If she was not incapacitated, she would have been in some intricate surgery with Teddy. She sighed, she hadn't been in an intricate surgery in a while because she couldn't endure standing for long periods.

She started talking to her bump. "Folks, you know I love you. I really, really do but it's getting time for you to come out that cocoon and enter the real world. There's not much room in there and I am sure you guys are cramped. Think of all the space you can have when you get out here." The babies moved within her and it always amazed her whenever they did that. "Ah, I can see you're listening. Good, just know I am expecting you soon."

* * *

><p>Three weeks of doctor-mandated bed rest passed. Just one more week of this, she thought. She was getting more and more restless. There was only so much sleeping, watching TV and eating she could do. She was going stir-crazy. She had Meredith, Alex, Jackson, Lexie and April call her every day so they could tell her what surgeries they were doing. Since she couldn't be there, she had to live vicariously through them.<p>

She had had enough of the loft. She needed to get out. "Screw bed rest," she thought. Maybe she could take a walk to the coffee house around the corner on their street. She wrapped up warmly because it was early December. It took her half an hour to get down the three flights of stairs, perhaps because of the slowness of her descent and the rest periods she was taking in between steps.

She stepped out of the firehouse. It was cold, so she wrapped her coat tightly around her. She walked slowly to the coffee house and on entering, was enveloped by the warmth of the place. She ordered a chai latte and sat down at a corner table to read the morning paper. "Ah," she thought as she watched passers-by outside the coffee shop. "I am seeing real people again, not just Owen."

She couldn't believe how fast time had passed and found herself, spending close to an hour at the coffee shop.

In the meantime, Owen, at his office, had spent 30 minutes, staring at the live feed from their bedroom. Cristina was nowhere to be seen. At first, he thought she was in the living room or the kitchen and she would soon come into camera view. She had to, if she needed to go to the bathroom and in her condition, she couldn't not go to the bathroom. He decided to give her a call. No answer. He called five minutes later. Again, no answer. Another five minutes passed. No answer. He kept trying both the home phone and her mobile phone. No answer. He was starting to panic. He grabbed his coat and headed to the parking lot to his truck.

Cristina, who had absentmindedly forgotten her phone on the kitchen counter, was now leaving the coffee shop, to make the slow trek back to the firehouse. She had been getting some nagging, sharp pains while at the coffee house, so she figured she needed to lie down. She had made it halfway to the firehouse, when she suddenly she felt a gush of warm liquid emit from her nether regions. "Did my water break?" she wondered. She searched for her phone in her handbag but it was not there. "I can't believe that I left it at home." The three flights of stairs seemed particularly daunting at the moment.

A cab screeched to a stop and a man and a woman stepped out. She waddled quickly to the taxi and said, "Sir, sir. I need to get to Seattle Grace. I think I am in active labor." The cabdriver ran out of the driver's seat and quickly opened the backdoor for her and helped her in. "Seattle Grace, driver, and be quick about it! OOOH," she yelped and held her side.

Cristina had never experienced such pain in her life. She had a high threshold for pain and this seemed beyond what she could bear. They seemed to becoming faster and faster. "What is going on? I thought women used to spend hours in labor," Cristina thought, as she held her stomach.

The traffic was bad and the cab driver began to get worried that he might actually have to deliver this baby on his own. He was only driving this cab for a week and already, he might have to deliver a baby.

"Miss, I am going to take some back streets to avoid this traffic," he said. "It may be a longer route but we won't be stuck in traffic."

"Whatever, sir, whatever. Just get me to the hospital. Owwwwwwww!" Cristina screamed. "Step on it!"

As Cristina was headed to the hospital, Owen was headed to the firehouse. The traffic was horrendous and he took longer than he expected. He parked the truck and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. "Cristina! Cristina!" he called out but there was no response.

He found her phone on the kitchen counter, stared at the screen and saw all of his missed calls. He was getting really panicky now. He called Meredith and asked if she had heard from Cristina. Meredith said that she had spoken to Cristina that morning to talk about the surgery she had but that was the last time she spoke to her. Owen wondered if he should call the police but he realized that she was not missing long enough for them to even take it, seriously.

Cristina was helped out of the taxi by the driver, whose name she found out was Tony, into the emergency room. April ran up to her and she and Tony helped Cristina on to a gurney.

"April, my water broke and I am in labor. Page Dr Stone 911. Call Meredith. Where's Owen? Owwwwww!" Cristina screamed.

April was flustered, "Dr Hunt ran out of here, saying that he had an emergency. I will page everybody. Just lie there."

Cristina asked Tony, "How much do I have for you?"

Tony replied, "Nothing, miss. I am just so happy that we made it to the hospital and I didn't have to deliver it. Take care of yourself and your baby." With that, he ran out of there.

April phoned Owen, "Dr Hunt?"

"What, Kepner? This is not a good time, I cannot find Cristina and I am going out of my mind," Owen said, exasperated.

"She's here. Cristina is at the hospital. She's gone into labor. She's having the babies, now. You need to come back," April told him.

"Oh, thank you," he said, relieved. "I will be there as soon as I can."

Just then, Meredith came running into the emergency room, followed by Alex.

"What's the emergency?" Alex said, "Dr Stone went into an emergency C-section so I am holding on for him. Who is it?"

"It's Cristina," April said.

Cristina was horrified that it was going to be Alex who was probably going to be the one to deliver her babies.

"Oww! Do you know what you're doing, Alex? I want drugs for this pain," Cristina said.

"Of course I know what I am doing. I learned from the best, Addison Montgomery. Let's take a look," he said.

Cristina internally shuddered, as Alex checked her cervix. "Cristina, you're already too far gone. Too late for an epidural. You're going to do this naturally. Okay, Meredith, let's get her to the delivery room. Let's get her on the elevator."

Meredith and Alex ran with Cristina's gurney into the elevator. The door shut behind them and Alex pressed the button for the OB delivery floor. The elevator started and suddenly, crunched to a stop.

"Oh my God," Meredith said, softly.

.


	11. Chapter 11 Baby times two

"Don't tell me this freaking elevator is stuck," Cristina yelled. "I am in labor here, folks. Am I going to have the babies in this elevator?"

Meredith pressed the emergency button. "They're going to get us out of here soon, Cristina. Don't panic." Despite her assurances to Cristina, Meredith was worried that they really would have to deliver the babies in the elevator.

"You're shaking, Mer and you're telling me not to panic. Owwwww! That was a big contraction," Cristina replied.

Alex went to take another look at Cristina. "Oh my God, Cristina, I think you're nearly there. You're probably going to deliver in here, if they don't get those doors open."

"Alex," screamed Cristina. "Why is it going so fast? I thought people were in labor for hours."

"Could be because it's twins," Alex said. "Maybe your babies want to come out and see the world. I think you're gonna have to start pushing really, really soon."

"Again, Alex, you do know what you're doing, right? OOOOOH!" Cristina asked.

"I do, but it is better to have all the equipment in the delivery room when you're doing this," he said. "Mer, go behind Cristina and support her back." The small blonde woman did as she told and climbed behind her equally tiny friend.

"You know this reminds me of when O'Malley and I were stuck in the elevator with that patient when we were interns," Alex reminisced.

"Yeah, but you froze back then," Meredith said.

"Well, I am not gonna freeze now. I'm not that scared intern anymore," Alex said.

"I can't believe that Alex Karev has his head between my legs," Cristina moaned.

"Shut it, Yang. Can't you see I am nervous already?" Alex said.

"I thought you said you know what you're doing. Why are you nervous?" Cristina asked, her face contorted in pain.

"You're my friend and I don't want to mess this up. I care about what happens to you and these babies," Alex said.

"That is the nicest thing Alex Karev has ever said to me, Meredith," Cristina squeaked out. "By the way, where the heck is Owen Hunt?"

They were interrupted by a booming voice on the emergency intercom. "This is the Chief of Surgery, Richard Webber. Who is stuck in the elevator?"

Meredith, Cristina and Alex all started at once, "Chief…Chief….Chief."

"One person, please," the Chief's voice said.

"It's me, Karev with Grey and Yang. Yang is gonna pop out these babies, kinda like now. So if you guys can hurry up with opening the doors," Alex said.

The Chief said in his most reassuring voice, "You're stuck between floors. Maintenance is trying to fix the problem. We may have to change a part. They are looking for the replacement part, now. Yang, there is someone out here who would like to talk to you."

"Cristina, it's me," Owen's voice rumbled on the intercom.

"Owen, Owen…why couldn't you be stuck in the elevator with me?" Cristina moaned. "Owwwwww!"

"I'm sorry, baby. I went looking for you when I didn't see you on the ….." Owen's voice trailed away.

"You mean when you didn't see me on the webcam, Owen Hunt?" Cristina yelled.

"You knew!" Owen exclaimed.

"Yup. I'm not blind, I could see you fiddling with that darn webcam. I was really mad at first but I figured if something happened to me in the loft, at least you would know. You know it was wrong not to tell me, though," Cristina said.

"Yeah, I know but I wasn't sure if you would let me do it. I'm sorry. I kept worrying about you all by yourself in the loft. That's why I did it. It would have killed me if something had happened to you. I'm sorry," he said in an apologetic tone.

"It's alright. I think I have more important things to worry about, right now. OOOOH!"

"Cristina, I think you have to start pushing, now," Alex's voice came from between Cristina's legs.

"Aaaaaaaarghh!" Cristina screamed, as she held on tightly to the sides of the gurney.

Owen was distressed as he heard Cristina screaming. He wished he could be in there to give her comfort.

"You're doing good, Cristina! I can see the top of the head," Alex said, excitedly. "Another big push!"

"Aaaaaaaargh!" Cristina screamed again. Meredith hugged her friend. She wasn't so sure if she could do it herself.

"Okay, head's out. Another push. Let's get those shoulders out and everything will be easy after that!"

Cristina screamed again and pushed with all her might.

"Okay, that's it!" Alex yelled, as he eased the baby out. "Hey, it's a girl and she's got a good set of lungs," Alex said as he cut the cord and handed the bawling baby to Meredith.

Meredith cooed, "She's beautiful, Cristina. Has your dark hair."

"That one is just like you, Cristina. Loud and wanting to be heard in her first seconds in the world," Alex joked. "Okay, we're gonna do this, a second time. Just give me a push."

Cristina pushed harder and screamed louder. Owen clenched his fist. He was dying out there, not being with his wife.

"Ooh, this one is coming out faster," Alex said. "The head's out. Another push, Cristina. Big one and that should do it."

The baby boy was out but unlike his sister, he didn't even let out a whimper.

"Oh, God, oh, God," Alex said, as he cut the cord and started rubbing the baby, vigorously. He cleared the baby's nostrils as best as he could and he continued rubbing. "Come on, little guy, give me a cry." He was never so happy to hear a gurgling sound come out of the baby, followed by a few cries. He held the little red-headed boy close to him and stroked his head.

"Is he okay, Alex?" Cristina asked, with a worried tone to her voice.

"Yeah, I think he's doing alright," Alex said. The elevator suddenly started to move and then the doors opened. The crowd that had gathered outside the elevator, broke out into spontaneous applause. There they stood, Alex holding a red-headed baby, Meredith holding a dark-headed baby and an exhausted Cristina on the gurney.

Owen rushed into the elevator and kissed and stroked Cristina's face. "I am so sorry, baby, that I couldn't be in here with you."

Cristina said, tiredly, "You're here now. Take a look at the babies."

Alex and Meredith handed the babies to Owen for him to show Cristina their faces. "Whoa," Cristina said, "I actually made a redhead. Wow." She looked up at Owen and smiled. Owen had never felt more love for his wife than in that moment. He could never have imagined that they would have reached this point when everything seemed so broken, those many months ago. He kissed her again.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, Cristina was in her private room with her two babies on either side. The babies had done well on the Apgar test and had taken their first feed.<p>

She paged Meredith and Alex to come to her room.

"Hey, just wanted to thank you for being there with me. Alex, I owe you a lot, especially in that situation," Cristina looked at the two of them.

"I was just doing my job," Alex said, trying to shrug off any praise.

"Owen and I have discussed what I am going to say to you and he agrees with me," Cristina started. "Okay, Meredith, hold the one in the pink blanket," as Meredith picked up the little dark-haired baby. "Her name is Annabella Meredith Hunt," Cristina said. Meredith smiled broadly at the name.

"Okay, Alex, you can hold the one in the blue blanket." Alex already felt a special bond to the little redhead. "His name is Zachary Alexander Owen Hunt."

Alex could not believe what he was hearing. "You gave him my name. Wow!" Alex grinned.

"Meredith already knows that she is the babies' godmother. Alex, Owen and I would like you to be the babies' godfather," Cristina said.

Alex was dumbfounded. No one had ever asked him to be a godfather before. His eyes welled up. "I would be honored to be their godfather," he said.

"You're a good guy, Alex. Let nobody tell you any different. You're a really good guy," Cristina told her friend.

"Hey, have you noticed their first names? A for Annabella and Z for Zachary. I told Owen that I gave him kids from A to Z, so he can't ask for anymore," Cristina grinned.

The three friends chuckled at the thought.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I was wondering whether I should end this here. I have written 11 chapters in 11 days. I don't know if I should continue. This could be a good way for it to end. Let me know.**


	12. Chapter 12 First day alone

"Everything is going to be alright, Cristina," Owen said, as he left to go back to work that morning. As he went down the stairs, he looked back at her. She cut a forlorn figure, standing at the top of the stairs - a tiny creature holding two babies in her arms.

Today was the first day that Owen was going back to work, after taking six weeks leave to help Cristina settle down with the twins at home. It had been an eventful six weeks, too, since the twins had come home, two days after their birth.

At the hospital before they went home, a nurse had come in to give Cristina tips on how to nurse, diaper, bathe and put her babies to sleep, and handed her a ton of literature on caring for an infant. Cristina had sat there with a frozen smile on her face. Owen was not quite sure how much Cristina was actually taking in, so he made sure to pay attention to the nurse, while she was explaining everything.

The first week home was absolute chaos for the new parents and their newborn twins. The twins had taken well to the breastfeeding as if they knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing. It was, however, the sheer number of feedings that was involved in keeping the twins fed that was driving Cristina crazy. "What am I, a cow?" she thought. As soon as one baby was done, the other would start feeding. And within a short time, it would start all over again.

Then there was the diaper-changing. At the sight of the first poopy diaper, Cristina had run, screaming to the other end of the loft.

When the second poopy diaper came, Owen told her that she had to learn because when he went back to work, she would have to do it. She was very reluctant, wrinkling her nose at the smell. After two tries, she did a satisfactory job, under Owen's supervision.

When the third poopy diaper came, he watched her delicately place a clothes pin on her nose, as she got to work on changing it. By the fourth poopy diaper, she had become a pro.

With two babies, they were going through those diapers so fast, that Owen had to keep running down to the store, to make sure that they always had in stock.

Bathing the babies, Cristina felt, was the most pleasurable part of the whole experience. She loved how a clean baby smelt with the baby powder and the lotion, they were almost eatable. But as she once told Owen, "Its small features and oversized eyes trigger a hormonal response in humans, it's autonomic. It's what keeps us from eating them." She smiled to herself. Who ever thought she would be in this situation? But not even the pleasure of bathing the babies could take away the exhaustion and the sleepless nights. It was particularly hard for Cristina with the nighttime feedings. She never got any real sleep because if it wasn't one baby that was hungry, it was the next. Owen would find Cristina asleep on the rocking chair, still holding a baby to her breast.

By the second week, they were about to give up. Then Owen said, "Maybe we're doing this all wrong."

"What do you mean? They eat, they poop, they sleep and we bathe them. We take care of their needs. What are we doing wrong?" Cristina said, tiredly.

"Well, we need to approach this like the military," Owen said excitedly.

"Huh?" Cristina murmured, as she snuggled against his chest, grateful for the quiet time, while the babies slept.

"What we need is to develop a schedule so that certain things happen at scheduled times," Owen said, the idea taking shape in his head

"How can you schedule a baby? They know what they want, when they want it," Cristina said, her voice was muffled against his chest.

"It's like this, they start sleeping, eating and taking a bath at certain times of the day. They'll get used to it and it will just happen, naturally as their body clocks move into a rhythm. You can also start expressing your milk with the pump, so I can help you feed them in the night with a bottle and you can get some sleep, so we can share the nighttime feedings," Owen said.

"I will try anything to get some sleep. Is it possible to schedule their pooping, too?" Cristina asked.

"I am afraid that one might be difficult," Owen said, most seriously.

So for that week and the week after, they tried setting some sort of pattern for the babies. Unfortunately, the babies were not as cooperative. As Owen tried to feed his son from the bottle, the baby refused to take the nipple. He wanted to nurse at his mama's breast. "Oh, come on, buddy, work with me, here," Owen coaxed the baby. "Your mom and I are having a really hard time with the two of you. And you know that your mom is not the most maternal type."

"What did you just say?" Cristina said, from across the room, as she fed Annabella, who, unlike her brother, was not averse to drinking from the bottle. In Annabella's mind, if there was milk, she was drinking it.

"Nothing," Owen said. For 20 minutes, he sat there with his son. The baby cried and screamed for his mother. Finally, hunger and exhaustion finally kicked in and the baby started suckling the bottle. "Ah, there we go, little guy. That wasn't so bad, after all," as he settled down with the baby on the couch.

By the fourth week, it was working. There was some sort of pattern to the babies' sleeping and eating habits. But more importantly, Owen and Cristina had started working as a team. With the aid of the bottle, they were both able to feed the babies at the same time, without Cristina bearing the brunt of the feedings. They managed to bathe the babies, together, with Cristina handling one baby and Owen, the next. Nighttime had definitely become better because as one slept, the other worked at changing or feeding whichever baby was up. They were still tired and there were still too many poopy diapers to change but it was all starting to come together.

By the fifth week and sixth week, the parents were totally working as a cohesive, two-person unit. Everything was being done faster and more efficiently by the two surgeons, who were used to having order in their operating rooms.

But Owen's six weeks' leave at home was soon over. So, there he was, saying goodbye to his wife and their babies. "Everything is going to be alright, Cristina," he said as he left.

As he stepped into the hospital doors, he was greeted by April Kepner, who started talking up a storm about everything that had happened in the time that he was gone. He thanked her for her unbridled enthusiasm and he stepped into his office. He sighed at the ton of paperwork that had built up on his desk, plus Kepner had given him several detailed reports on the operations of the emergency room during the time that he was away.

He sat down and turned on his computer. He had 1,935 e-mails in his inbox. He groaned and started answering them. He soon lost track of time, answering his emails and getting through his paperwork. By the time he looked up, several hours had passed and he had not heard anything from Cristina for the entire morning. He missed hearing her voice, so he gave her a call.

He dialed and the phone kept ringing and ringing until it went straight to voice mail. That couldn't be, he thought, she had to be home. There was nowhere she could go without carrying the two babies with her and that would be a huge undertaking. So he tried the phone again. After five rings, Cristina answered.

"What do you want?" she shouted into the phone, an exasperated tone to her voice.

"Um, Cristina, it's me, Owen. How are things going?" he asked, quietly.

"Can you hear that ruckus?" she yelled as he clearly heard two screaming babies in the background. "That is how it is going. I don't have time to talk to you."

"I just wanted to know if you guys were okay," Owen continued.

Cristina answered, "Do you have an emergency? Is there something of importance that you need to tell me?" Clearly, her temper was very short.

"No," Owen said.

"Well, then don't call me, until you do. Goodbye," she said and then he heard a click, as she hung up on him.

He stared at the phone. Clearly, his wife was not having the best of days.

He had enough of the paperwork and trotted off to the pit. Perhaps he needed a surgery, maybe he needed to get some blood on his hands. A cyclist, who had been hit by a car and dragged by the vehicle, had just been brought into the ER. Owen jumped into action, and surmised that he had major internal injuries. He needed surgery as soon as possible. As he rushed off to the OR, the adrenaline started to kick in. He really missed it.

Back in the OR, he felt so alive, doing what he did best. It was touch and go in there but they managed to save the accident victim. If he felt like this, he could well imagine how much Cristina was missing it, too.

He went back to his office and there were no calls from her. He didn't call her because he knew she was under tremendous pressure and would probably not take kindly to having to answer the phone.

He would see her soon enough, anyway. After his shift ended, with some take-out dinner in hand, he headed back to the firehouse.

As he stepped up to the loft, it was like if a tornado hit. There were unwashed empty baby bottles on the kitchen counter and the sink, a half-eaten burger on the floor, a package of new diapers was opened and scattered across the living room and a trail of baby powder was evident from the bathroom to the bedroom.

He saw his wife on the bed, with two freshly bathed, sleeping babies next to her. Cristina, on the other hand, was not looking as fresh. She looked frazzled, her hair was uncombed, she had baby powder on her forehead and cheek and there were definitely milk stains on her shirt. She was asleep, probably the first sleep she got for the day.

Owen quietly cleaned up the food from the floor, washed the bottles, picked up the scattered diapers and swept up the baby powder trail. He picked up the phone and started to make a few calls. He quietly had discussions with everybody and got their agreement.

He went to the bedroom and gently shook Cristina awake. "Hey, babe," he said. Cristina opened her eyes and looked at him, "Hey, Owen."

"I guess you have had a hard day," he said.

"Yeah, the schedule went awry. I think we need two people for it to work," she replied.

"Okay, tomorrow, my mom will be coming over," he told her.

"Is she coming to take them away?" Cristina asked, a little hopeful.

"No," he laughed. "We're not giving them away. She's coming over to help you. The next day, Meredith and Zola will come over, then Karev, then Torres, then Bailey, then Kepner, then Lexie, then Avery and even Shepherd is going to come over for a day. They are all going to take their day off and come over to help you. We can get the pattern back in place. It will give me enough time to hire a nanny to help you, until you go back to work and we can put them in the hospital daycare."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Seriously. We've got some good friends," he said, as he laid down next to her and hugged her close.


	13. Chapter 13 First day back

**A/N: I am introducing a new head of cardio, Dr Michael Buchanan. I am sending Teddy off to Germany.**

* * *

><p>"Okay, I've packed baby bath, lotion, powder, wet wipes, diapers, toys and baby bottles," Cristina said, as she put together the most enormous bag for her babies' first day of daycare.<p>

Today was also Cristina's first day of work, after staying home three months with the babies. It was also her first day of her fellowship program at Seattle Grace Mercy West. In reality, while Cristina did have five fellowship offers, there really wasn't any doubt that she would be staying at SGMW.

She had already set down roots in the city. Her home was here, her friends were here and her support system was here. Even though she knew Owen would have uprooted himself to go to any program that she chose, she knew she felt more at home in Seattle than anywhere else.

Besides, her person/best friend also decided to stay at Seattle Grace to do her neuro-surgery fellowship. Meredith, Derek and Zola had moved out to the house in the woods. Meredith decided not to sell the house at 613 Harper Lane and let Alex, Jackson, April and Lexie live there. She was rather a benevolent landlady. Her friends needed a place to live because they, too, were doing their fellowships here. Alex was doing peds, April had chosen trauma and Jackson was doing general surgery.

Lexie, now a fifth year resident, had been chosen as Chief Resident. That wasn't the only change at Seattle Grace. Teddy was no longer the Head of Cardio. Her husband, Henry had died and she had rekindled her relationship with her former boyfriend, Andrew and had moved to Germany to be with him. Before she left, Teddy had called Cristina to let her know of her plans to leave.

She told Cristina that they had their differences in the past and she said that deep down, she probably knew that Cristina was going to surpass her as a surgeon and maybe, that had led to some of their conflicts. She said she completely expected that Cristina would become a world-famous surgeon in the field. What Cristina did not know is that Teddy had also told Owen that Cristina would surpass him, too and he had to be prepared for that time.

So, there was a new head of cardio, Dr Michael Buchanan. She had already heard of him before, but she decided to do some research on him on the net. He was 43 years old, had gone to Yale, then med school at Harvard and had done his residency at Mass Gen, before he headed off to Europe. He had been working in Switzerland for the last 10 years, where he had received a number of European medical awards, spearheaded several major clinical trials and had published extensively. It was quite a coup for Seattle Grace to have someone of Buchanan's caliber to join the staff. She was really excited to meet him and to work with him.

"Okay, I think we have everything," Cristina said, as they strapped the babies in their car seats in the back seat of the truck. So the family of four headed off to Seattle Grace.

Eager to start talking about work, Cristina asked, "Have you met Dr Buchanan?"

Owen answered, "Yes, Teddy introduced me to him just before she left. She was doing a handing over of the duties and she made sure to introduce him to all of the heads of each surgical department. He seems a nice enough guy. We've worked on a couple of cases together since he has been here and he knows his stuff."

"Oh, great! I really am excited to meet him. I read some of his published articles and I have to say that they are quite brilliant," Cristina said. "I am so, so excited for surgery, again. I love my babies but I have to say that mama really needs to cut."

After arriving at the parking lot, they each put a baby in an infant carrier, which was strapped to the front of their bodies. As soon as they stepped into the hospital, they were bombarded by cooing nurses and residents, eager to take a look at the Yang-Hunt progeny. "They are so cute, Dr Yang," Nurse Debbie told her.

They walked over to the hospital daycare and as they handed over their babies to the daycare staff, Cristina was hit with a twinge of sadness as she saw them place her babies into their cribs. She didn't know it was going to be so hard to leave them. They had been with her constantly for the past three months.

Owen and Cristina parted ways; he headed to the pit while she made a beeline to the cardio wing to introduce herself to Dr. Buchanan. She went to his office and knocked.

A deep voice said, "Come in."

She entered to be greeted by a tall, good-looking man with sandy brown hair and green eyes. At six foot three, he towered over Cristina.

"Dr Buchanan, my name is Cristina Yang. I am a cardio fellow with the program. This is my first day with the program. Well, not my first day at Seattle Grace but my first day as a cardio fellow. I did my residency here," Cristina said and wondered why she sounded like if she was babbling.

"Ah, Dr Yang. Dr Altman told me a lot about you. She has great faith in your abilities and has told me that I would be impressed. So you're back from maternity leave. Twins, I hear. Congratulations," Buchanan said. "I have two kids, myself. Eight year old girl and six year old boy."

"So how is your family liking Seattle, sir? Your wife and kids?" Cristina asked.

"It's just my kids and me. My wife died in a skiing accident in Switzerland," he said, quietly.

"I am so sorry, sir," Cristina said.

"No, that's okay. She died six months ago. That's one of the reasons I decided to come back to Seattle. I have two small children and no family in Switzerland to help me with them. My parents live here and the children stay with them, after school, until I finish my shift here and can pick them up," he said.

"I have a couple of interesting cases," he said, reaching for a few folders on his desk. "Here, take these two cases and let me see what you can do with them. Let's meet with the patients today. You're a cardio fellow now so you will be taking lead on these cases. I will be there just to observe," he said.

Cristina was excited. She grabbed the folders and eagerly, started reading the details of each patient's illness.

"Okay, Dr Yang. I will meet you in an hour in Mr. Jenkins' room and then we will see Mrs. Charles after that. Is that okay with you?

"Yes, sir. I will be ready," Cristina said.

"You don't have to call me sir. Call me Michael and can I call you Cristina?" he asked.

"Yes, you can, Michael," Cristina said, as she left his office.

Buchanan watched her retreating figure, "Cute little thing," he thought. "Reminds me of Tina," as he glanced at a picture of his late wife on his desk. He didn't like to think much about Tina because it made his heart ache.

Tina Tsai had been an anesthesiologist, when he first met her. She was the gasman or gasperson, as she had corrected him, during one of his surgeries. She was assigned to many of his surgeries and he felt a chemistry and kinship with her, so he asked her out. That was the start of their love story. They got married and had two kids, first Lauren and then Sam.

When he first heard about the skiing accident, he had hoped against hope that she would be alright. When he heard that she had died, he had fallen to his knees and started to weep. His heart was broken. So he had come to Seattle with his kids to start over. It had been a long time, since he lived in Seattle. The last time, he lived here, he was 18 years old, just before he had gone off to Connecticut to go to Yale. He stared out of his window, looking at the Space Needle. "Yes, I am here to start over," he said to himself.

An hour later, Cristina and Buchanan met in the Mr. Jenkins` room. The patient expressed his fears but Cristina sought to assuage his doubts. Cristina was totally confident that she could do the surgery and explained to Jenkins exactly what was going to happen in the surgery. Buchanan was suitably impressed. The last time she had done one like this was with Burke when he had the hand tremor and she had done a lot of the surgery by herself, under his supervision. Cristina felt exhilarated.

Mrs. Charles' case was totally different. It was not one she had done before but she was eager to try it. Besides, she knew how it should be done because she had researched and read about it but this would be the first time she would actually be doing one. She had also seen Teddy, doing it twice before. She told Mrs. Charles what was going to happen in the surgery. After they left Mrs. Charles' office, Buchanan told Cristina that he was impressed that she had been so prepared for the two cases and he was looking forward to seeing her in action, the next day. Jenkins' surgery was scheduled for the next morning and Mrs. Charles in the evening.

As he walked away, she realized that she had not seen her babies since they dropped them off that morning. She ran down to the daycare to take a look at them. Standing over their babies' cribs was their father. She quietly went up to him and hugged him from behind.

"Is that my lovely wife?" Owen asked, as he held on to her hands around his waist.

"You couldn't stay away from them. Neither could I. It has been a great morning but I miss them," she said.

"How was Buchanan?" he asked.

"It was great. He is giving me lead on two interesting cases. Unfortunately, both surgeries have been scheduled for tomorrow, and all of the cardio surgeries today already have a surgeon assigned to them. I need to cut. Can I come down to the pit in case an accident victim comes in?" she asked.

"Yes. You're really a surgeon. You're actually hoping that someone gets into an accident, so you can cut," he said. She nodded.

"It's a pity the babies aren't awake. They won't even know that we were here," Cristina said.

Owen turned around and kissed her on the nose. "Come on, Dr. Yang. Let's go down to the pit and await any accident victims."

Just when they arrived at the pit, an ambulance came screaming in, bringing a mother and daughter, whose car had been hit by a pick-up truck at a busy intersection. Owen and Cristina looked at each other and then started to go to work. The mother was in worse shape than her young daughter, who had been in the back seat. Other than a broken leg and arm, the daughter was okay.

The mother had taken the brunt of the impact and had broken bones and internal injuries. Torres, Hunt and Yang headed to the OR with the woman. While Callie worked on the victim's broken bones, Owen and Cristina worked on her other injuries. Owen decided to let Cristina take lead on the trauma, since she had not cut in three months. Cristina eagerly accepted the gift from her husband.

As he watched her tiny hands work their magic, Owen remembered Teddy's words that Cristina would surpass him, too. He had always known that she was extraordinary in the OR. He wondered how his ego would take it, when she surpassed him. Her technique was fantastic. It always amazed him when how fast she thought on her feet and how she knew exactly what to do.

It was a successful surgery, even though the woman had a long road to recovery. Even though it was not a cardio case, Cristina had never felt such an adrenaline rush in a while. She had certainly missed it.

That evening, as they headed home to the firehouse, with their babies in tow, Owen asked, "Was it a good first day?"

She turned and look at him, "It was a great first day."


	14. Chapter 14 Doppelganger

**A/N: Yes, I created Buchanan to bring in a little angst for Owen. I wanted to make him a likeable character with a sympathetic background story – an attractive alternative.**

* * *

><p>The first three months of the fellowship program were some of the best times that Cristina had ever experienced at Seattle Grace. Dr. Buchanan was a fabulous teacher, who believed in learning by doing. Whenever he wanted to teach a new surgical technique to Cristina, he and she would discuss it in detail before the procedure and then she would perform the surgery, under his supervision. She was becoming more and more confident in her increased skills and abilities.<p>

The majority of her surgeries were now solo surgeries and for only the most intricate and demanding surgeries would Dr Buchanan be in the OR to provide guidance. She was enjoying working with him, more than any of her previous teachers. Cristina's history with her teachers had been quite rocky.

Marlowe and Burke had been both her lover and her teacher who had wanted to marry her and therefore, emotions also played a major part of those mentorships. Hahn had been a mean sort, who cut her out of many surgeries and never really taught her anything. Dixon had Asperger's syndrome, which made it difficult to even have a remotely normal teacher-student relationship. Then there was Teddy, whose personal and professional jealousies, got in the way of teaching Cristina.

It was nice to have a clean slate with Dr Buchanan, who seemed to have no agenda, other than making her the best surgeon she could be. Her enthusiasm for her new mentor spilled into her conversations to her husband. She could not stop talking about what Dr Buchanan did and said.

At first, Owen had listened, happy that she had finally found a great mentor from whom she was learning. But having his wife talk about another surgeon, another man in such glowing terms, he was starting to feel a little jealous.

After all, he did know Cristina's history with her male mentors, who usually became enamored with her. Even Owen had not been immune to the charms of his wife, when she was just a second year resident. He had known then it was an inappropriate relationship as he was her supervisor/teacher but he couldn't help himself.

At home, their life was contented. Their six-month-old babies, Zach and Anna, were happy and healthy. Anna's hair was growing fast and it was clear she had inherited her mother's big, ebony curls, as well as her chocolate brown eyes. Zach's red hair was also getting abundant, but not as much as his sister. Zach adored his mama and his blue eyes watched her every move, whenever she was in the same room. Anna felt the same way about her dada.

The babies were developing their own unique personalities. Anna was louder, more vocal with her demands. Cristina called her a whiner. Zach was more stoic, quieter and sometimes, it almost seemed like he was amused by his louder sibling. He was not a complainer, once he was clean and fed and his parents, especially his mama, held him close.

It was at work that Owen felt uneasy. He watched his wife and Dr Buchanan having a conversation as they walked to the cardio wing together. Was there something he should be seeing? Was he missing something? They looked like two colleagues, having a conversation about a surgical procedure. Compared to the tall head of cardio, his petite wife looked like a teenager next to him. He dismissed his thoughts but he did think that Buchanan sometimes had a yearning expression when he looked at Cristina. For her part, Cristina seemed oblivious to everything, except for the next surgical procedure she was about to perform.

Buchanan enjoyed his time, teaching this young cardio fellow. He was amazed at her talent. Altman had been right about her, her skills were far beyond her years and her experience level. She soaked up what he taught her like a sponge. He also found himself staring at her sometimes because she so reminded him of Tina. Her curly hair was different; Tina had long, thick, straight hair but there were similarities in the structure of their faces and their smiles. She looked like a younger version of Tina, like if she could be Tina's younger sister. Being around her reminded him of being with his wife, once again. He had to constantly remind himself, "She is not Tina."

* * *

><p>It was late evening after doing her final surgery for the day, Cristina was walking towards the ER to meet up with Owen, when suddenly, a little boy launched himself at her and hugged her, tightly. Cristina was surprised by this unexpected display of affection from a child she did not know.<p>

"Mom," he said, "You've come back. Don't ever go away again."

"I am not your mom," she told the child, as she gently removed his arms from around her. He looked like six or seven years old with sandy brown hair and green eyes. A solemn, little girl with long, straight dark hair, stood back and watched the scene. She looked to be a little older than the boy.

"Sam, she's not our mom. Mom died and she's not coming back," she told her little brother. To Cristina, the girl said, "You look a lot like my mom. Your hair is different but you still look like her." She took her brother's hand.

An older woman came running up to them, "Are the kids bothering you? I'm sorry. Oh, my God. Tina?"

"No. It's CRIS-tina," Cristina said. Who do these people think I am, Cristina thought.

"Oh, yes, I am sorry, miss. It's just that you remind me of my daughter in law. I hope that my grandchildren haven't been bothering you," the woman said, apologetically. "Come on, Sam, Lauren, let's go back and wait for your daddy. Grandpa went to the vending machine and got some snacks for you guys. Let's go."

Cristina smiled politely and headed to the ER.

She found Owen, updating a chart. "Something really odd just happened to me. Two little kids thought I was their mom," she told him, with a grin.

"Cristina, is there something you need to tell me? Is there a past life I know nothing about?" he joked. "The only two kids that I know you have are in the hospital daycare right now, waiting for us to pick them up. And they can't even talk as yet."

"Kinda sad, though. It seems that their mom died and I must look a little bit like her," she said. "I know how hard it is to lose a parent so young."

"Well, it's probably a recent loss, if they think that a strange woman is their mom," he said. Even though they did not even know these children, they both felt an empathy towards them, since both Owen and Cristina had each lost a parent.

As they walked to the daycare, Cristina again saw the two children, running towards the person who was their father. As she saw the tall familiar figure reach down and pick up the boy, she knew exactly who their father was.

Owen could tell from the change in Cristina's expression that these were the two kids that had mistaken her for their mother. When he saw their father, his questions were answered. Those longing expressions that Buchanan gave Cristina were because she reminded him of his deceased wife.

As they headed to the daycare to pick up Anna and Zach, neither of them spoke about the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The babies were awake and waiting. Zach put up his hands for his mom to pick him up and Anna did the same for her dad.

They drove home, talking about everything else. Cristina tried to avoid talking about Buchanan but it was really hard, since he played such an integral part of her daily work life. So she tried talking around him but she let his name slip just once.

They looked at each other. Owen said, "So you look like his late wife?"

"It's not like I knew that," Cristina said. "He has never said anything to me. We never ever speak about anything personal. The first time we met, he told me that he had two kids and his wife died in a skiing accident. That was it."

Owen said, thoughtfully, "It must be hard to have a constant reminder of his loss, when he looks at you."

"I guess," Cristina said, "but it's not like I can change my face. Is having me around him causing him discomfort? I really don't like that feeling."

They continued home in silence.

* * *

><p>The next day, Cristina did her best to avoid Buchanan. This was really hard to do, given that he was the head of cardio. She really did not know how to feel about the situation.<p>

He approached her, as she was giving instructions about a post-op patient to one of the nurses. "Good morning, Cristina."

"Morning, sir," Cristina said.

"I thought we had gone past all of the formalities. Remember it's Michael," he said.

"Yes, yes," Cristina said and smiled briefly.

"I heard you met my children, Sam and Lauren, yesterday and my mother," he said.

Cristina nodded. "Yes, your kids are lovely and your mom was nice," she figured that was the most generic thing she could say, without bringing up the topic that they were both skirting around.

Michael ventured, "So I guess you know. You look a lot like my late wife, Tina. I am sorry if the kids scared you with that piece of information."

Cristina shook her head. "I didn't know that they were your kids, when they told me. It's only when I saw you with them, I realized that they were yours."

She continued bravely, "Is it painful for you to look at me, if I remind you of her?"

"No," he smiled. "I just wanted to let you know that it doesn't bother me. You are you. You are not Tina. Don't feel the need to avoid me just because you think it might hurt me. You are Cristina Yang, one of the most brilliant cardio fellows that I have ever had the pleasure to teach."

"Thank you, Michael. I just didn't want our working relationship to become awkward," Cristina said.

"Fine," he said. "I have a case that I think you will be very interested in. It's a surgical procedure that you haven't done before. Come meet the patient."

They walked off together, as Owen observed them from a distance.

Like Cristina, he, too, did not know how to feel about the situation. It didn't make his uneasiness about Dr Buchanan's presence in Cristina's life any better. In fact, it just made it a little more complicated.


	15. Chapter 15 Marking his territory

Cristina was struggling under the weight of the two babies plus the enormous diaper bag. She had already collected the babies from the daycare when she got a message from Owen that he had been called into a late surgery. She silently cursed.

"Ah, Cristina," said a deep voice from behind her. "I see you might be having a spot of trouble there."

"Hi, Michael. I thought we were going to be heading home but Owen got pulled into a late surgery so we're going to have to wait it out. Now we're stuck here for I don't know how long," Cristina said. "I was so looking forward to going home and putting up my feet."

"So this is Zach and Anna. First time I have ever seen them up close. It seems that you and Dr Hunt created miniature versions of yourselves," he said.

"Yeah, everyone always says that," Cristina nodded, as she adjusted her hold of the babies for the umpteenth time.

"Okay, you look like you need some help. They must be quite heavy for someone as small as you. Give me one of the babies and the bag," he offered.

"Are you sure? These babies are quite a handful," as she gratefully handed over Anna and the diaper bag to Michael.

Anna stared up at Michael's unfamiliar face, considering whether she should cry or not. This was not her dada but he seemed nice enough. She thought she would hold the crying for later, when she really wanted something.

"It'll be nice to hold a baby again. Well, if you're stuck around here, why don't you have some dinner with me? I can order and have them deliver it here. My kids are staying overnight at my parents. It'll be great for a change to have adult conversation. Usually after 7 p.m., my conversations tend to center on action superheroes with Sam and fairytale princesses with Lauren," he said.

"That sounds good. I don't know how long we will have to wait and I am hungry. We can have it in the cafeteria and I can feed the babies, too," Cristina said.

"Alright then," Michael said, as he took out his phone to order. "Is Chinese takeout okay?"

Cristina nodded. They headed off to the cafeteria to settle down, while they awaited the food. In the meantime, they each started to feed the babies, first with some mashed potatoes and peas and then they each had a bottle. So by the time the food arrived, both babies were happy and fed.

With the food in front of her, Cristina realized how hungry she was. She quickly dove into the food, while Zach sat on her lap. Michael also started eating, while Anna slept contentedly against his left arm.

``So, I've realized that we have been working together like for five months and we've never really talked, other than work-related stuff. Tell me about yourself and I will reciprocate with my boring life story," he said.

"Okay," Cristina started, "I was born and raised in Beverly Hills. Please don't judge me because of that." She told him about life with her mom, Helen and her oral surgeon step dad, Saul Rubenstein. She talked about the horseback riding, the ballet lessons, the piano and violin classes, the vacations in Europe and the Caribbean and the summers at the Malibu beach house. She also talked about being diagnosed with dyslexia and overcoming it to become a double doctor. She told him about her college days at Smith, then Berkeley and then med school at Stanford.

She also spoke about her contentious relationship with her mother. Then, she told him about the most painful period of her life, when her dad died in the car accident when she was nine, and how she tried to stop the bleeding and felt when his heart stopped. "That's why I became a surgeon," she said, quietly.

Michael listened intently to her story and was amazed at the depths of this young woman.

"That's quite a life," he said. "Mine is pretty boring, in comparison. Born and raised in Seattle, typical middle-class upbringing. I was a star football and basketball player in high school, where I dated the head cheerleader, not because I liked her but because it was expected of me to date the head cheerleader.

"For college, I wanted a change of scenery, so I applied to east coast schools. That's how I ended up at Yale and then Harvard. After residency at Mass Gen, I was again looking for a change of scenery and I was offered a job in Switzerland. It was great pay, chance to do important research and experience a new life.

"That's where I met Tina. She was the anesthesiologist during one of my surgeries and we hit it off, immediately. We got married six months after we met. She was funny, beautiful and kind," he said, wistfully. "I miss her a lot."

Cristina silently nodded at him, wondering if she would be able to survive if something happened to her Owen. She didn't even want to think about it.

Meanwhile, Owen had been searching for Cristina for the past 30 minutes. His surgery was over and he wanted to head home. He called her but got no reply so he started looking for her. He came across a scene that made him do a double take. There was Cristina and Buchanan, laughing and conversing with each other in the cafeteria. Cristina was holding Zach, while his precious Anna was asleep in Buchanan's arms. If he were a stranger, he would have thought that they were a family.

"That's **MY** family," Owen said to himself. He was extremely peeved as he walked into the cafeteria.

"Cristina, I have been trying to call you for the last 30 minutes," he said in a flat tone.

"Oh, I am sorry, Owen. I forgot my handbag in the attendings' lounge. My phone is in it. Michael was just keeping me company and since I didn't know how long you were going to be, so we had a little take out dinner. If you're hungry, we can pick something up on the way home," Cristina said, cheerfully, as she watched Owen pick up Anna from Buchanan's arms.

Michael could feel the anger seething in Owen, despite his seemingly calm, outward exterior. "Ah, well, Cristina, I leave you in your husband's good hands. I will see you tomorrow," Michael said, as he quickly retreated out of the cafeteria.

As they headed home in the truck, Owen was strangely silent. His hands were tightly gripped around the steering wheel. Cristina could tell that something was bothering him but she couldn't figure out why. She hadn't done anything to get him peeved as far as she could tell.

"Maybe he's in a bad mood from the surgery," she thought, hoping that his foul disposition would soon pass.

Little did Cristina realize the inner turmoil that her husband was feeling. As he drove, he was having an internal conversation with himself about the whole situation. He didn't want to admit it but he was feeling a bit insecure. Buchanan was a cardio god with fancy awards and impressive research credentials, the kind of mentor that Cristina always admired.

Worse yet, there was nothing about Buchanan that was even remotely hateful. He was, by all accounts, a perfect gentleman, generous of his time and knowledge with his colleagues. He also was an amazing teacher to his wife.

When they arrived home, the silence continued. He ate his takeout quietly, while Cristina put the babies in their cribs. "Maybe he will talk about it, when he is ready," Cristina thought, as she headed to the bathroom for a shower. She stripped and felt the warm water wash over her tired body. It was heavenly, she thought.

At that moment, the shower door opened and a naked Owen stepped inside. He didn't say anything, lifted her up into his arms and crushed her lips with his mouth. It was one of those deep, soul-searching kisses, which made Cristina's toes curl.

Cristina could barely breathe, when they pulled apart from their kiss and she stared up into his blue eyes, which seemed to have almost a questioning look. Owen bent down and started showering with kisses all over her body, sometimes nipping at her skin. He bit her neck, a little bit roughly and Cristina was pretty sure that she was going to get a massive hickey but she didn't care at that moment.

He lifted her up against the wall, pushed up her legs and entered her. There almost seemed to be an urgency to his lovemaking, as he thrust hard and deep into her. His intensity and passion with which he made love to her made Cristina feel that he was claiming her body as his own. When they climaxed, it was a release for Owen of the tension that had overtaken his body and his mind for the last two hours. He held her close to him. Cristina hugged him back tightly because somehow, she knew that he needed it.

* * *

><p>The next day, Meredith took a good look at the hickey on Cristina's pale neck, a scarlet reminder of the previous night's activities. "That's a really big hickey, Cristina," Meredith scolded. "You guys are married now, leave that for the single folks."<p>

"There's something wrong with Owen," Cristina said. "He's gone all dark and moody."

"You don't think it's the PTSD again?" Meredith asked.

"I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know what to think. He doesn't seem to want to talk about it," Cristina said. "I'm still waiting for him to say something. I am not a mind reader. Anyway, talk to you at lunchtime. Gotta go check out Buchanan to see what he has lined up for me today."

Cristina knocked and entered Buchanan's office. He wasn't there at the moment, so she looked at his family pictures. There were lots of pictures of his kids but there was only one picture of his wife, Tina, which was on his desk. Cristina had seen it, briefly before, but she now took a closer look at the picture. She could see the similarities between herself and Tina, except the hair was very different.

"See, she does look like you," Michael said, as he entered the office.

Cristina felt embarrassed, like she was caught doing something she should not have been doing. "I am sorry, it's not like I was snooping. I just wanted to see how much I looked like her."

"It's okay, you should be curious, especially when people tell you that you look like someone," he said. He noticed the scarlet hickey on Cristina's fair skin. As a man, he knew exactly what it meant. Hunt was laying claim to what he perceived to be his own.

He wondered if Hunt was reading too much into this relationship that he had with Cristina. Yes, he did like being around her because she was very smart, funny and sarcastic, in addition to being a really talented surgeon. She had some of the best one-liners he had ever heard. Admittedly, he also loved to look at her, too, not because she looked like Tina but she had some of the cutest expressions he had ever seen. She was, by far, the best part of his workday and he always looked forward to seeing her, more than anybody else.

"Oh my God, is Hunt right?" he pondered. "Am I falling for this woman?"

Cristina smiled brightly at him, unaware of his thoughts.


	16. Chapter 16 Confrontation

**A/N: Okay, I am putting some slight medical stuff here. No grief if I make any medical mistakes. Even though my sister is a medical doctor, I am ashamed to ask her. On a totally unrelated note, can you check out my one-shot fic, The Dinner Party. Thanks.**

* * *

><p>The pager interrupted Michael's thoughts. "Ah, they want a cardio consult in trauma," he said.<p>

"Do you want me to go?" Cristina asked.

"No, I have two cases I need you to look at. I'll go," Michael said, as he handed her over two case folders. "We'll discuss when I get back."

Michael rushed down to the pit. "You paged for a cardio consult?" he asked Owen.

Owen nodded. He had hoped that Cristina would have been the one to come for the cardio consult. He really didn't feel like dealing with Buchanan. He realized that he was being irrational but his own insecurities about the Buchanan/Cristina relationship were still foremost in his mind.

"Sixty-five-year-old man. John Barnes, fell from a ladder with internal injuries and broken bones. Family says he has a history of heart trouble and Torres and I would like to have your input before we head to the OR. We are not sure if it was his heart trouble that caused the fall," Owen said.

Buchanan examined the patient and the EKG results. "These are not good. I am not sure if he will be able to survive the surgery. He is probably going to code in there. We will have to wait."

"What? In the meantime, he could be bleeding out from his internal injuries and die right here. I need to get in there to repair them," Owen argued, aware that there was an increased sharpness to his voice.

Callie added, "I need to fix his bones so he will be able to walk after this accident. How long do we have to wait?"

"So if we do nothing, he can die right here. If we do something, he could code and die in there. I vote that we do something. It's better than doing nothing and would give him a better chance of survival. Buchanan, you can be in there to look after his heart, while Torres and I handle his injuries," Owen said, emphatically.

Michael looked skeptical but he finally agreed, "Okay, let's do it."

In the OR, as Owen and Callie worked on the patient, Michael monitored the patient. As he predicted, the patient coded on the table and he fought hard to bring him back. Owen and Callie continued to operate on Barnes. He had a long road to recovery but he survived the surgery.

As they scrubbed out, Torres noted the tense silence between the two men. She tried to crack a lame joke but nobody laughed. "Tough crowd," she said, as she backed out of the scrub room. They continued scrubbing out in silence.

As he turned to leave, Michael said, "Dr Hunt, can you meet me in my office in half an hour? I think we need to have a conversation to clear the air."

"Yes, I think I can make that," Owen said. He did want to have this conversation.

Thirty minutes later, there was a knock on Buchanan's door. Owen came in and shut the door behind him.

"I guess I should just launch into it. I think you have a problem with me, given the tone in your voice this morning. Since we only have one thing in common, I am guessing that it has to do with Cristina," Michael said.

"I think there may be some misunderstanding about my relationship with Cristina. I can assure you, Dr Hunt, that there is nothing going on between Cristina and me," Michael continued.

"I see the way you look at her. That's not the way you look at a colleague," Owen countered. "Is it because she looks like your wife? She is **not** your wife; she is **my** wife."

"I know Cristina is not my wife. She is her own person. She is a very talented surgeon, one of the best I have ever taught. Honestly, I do enjoy spending time with her. She's funny and interesting and is probably the best part of my workday. But that doesn't mean I am going to do anything about it," Michael said.

"I have a hard time believing that you haven't thought of being something more to her. You do not look at a colleague that way," Owen said.

"Whatever I think and whatever I feel about Cristina doesn't mean that it will be put into action, Hunt. I am an honorable man. I will not mess with someone else's wife," he said.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted them and Cristina stepped in. The look of surprise on her face at seeing her husband in her boss' office was evident.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Dr Hunt and I have decided to clear the air over an issue we're having," Michael said.

Cristina gave Owen a questioning look. "Okay, can I speak to you, Owen? I will be right back, Michael, to discuss the cases."

Owen followed Cristina to the nearest on-call room. They stepped in, checked to see that no one else was there before they launched into what they both knew was going to be a heated argument.

"What was that about? What do you need to clear the air about? Is it about me? Did I do something?" Cristina asked.

Owen thought about how he was going to answer that question. "I have seen the way he looks at you. I needed to find out what his intentions were."

"What his intentions were? Did you go there and just embarrass me in front of my boss?" she said in horror. "I can't believe you."

"It's been weighing on my mind for some time. I have seen the way he looks at you and you haven't been helping things by talking about him all of the time," Owen said.

"Is this what has been bothering you that has got you all dark and moody? That I could be having some sort of clandestine affair with my boss? What about trust?" she asked, getting angrier by the minute.

"Trust? Didn't it take you two years to even tell me that Avery kissed you in your bedroom at your old apartment? Or the fact that I didn't even know that Marlowe existed in your life before he showed up here, trying to get you to go to Cleveland? You keep so many secrets that sometimes I don't know what else is going to jump out at me," he countered. "I'm pretty sure Burke will just suddenly appear one of these days, begging you to go to Baltimore with him."

"Is that what you're going to bring up? Have I ever given any indication to you that I would ever cheat on you? Have I? And talking about other people, remember my third year when you were all confused about Teddy and couldn't even make a choice about whether you wanted to be with me or her? What about that?" she spat out.

"I chose you. When I ran back into that hospital, I chose you. I took a bullet for you. I married you. I tied my life to you," he said. "I love you."

Cristina was too pissed to see reason at the moment. "How do you expect me to face Buchanan now?" she yelled and slammed the door as she left.

Owen sighed. There was no reasoning with her when she was in this mood.

For the rest of the day, he did not hear from her. At the end of his shift, he headed to the daycare, certain that he would see her there. She was there, playing with the babies. He asked, "Are you ready?"

She looked up at him, handed him Zach and the diaper bag. She picked up Anna and silently left the daycare. Clearly, she was giving him the silent treatment.

Neither of them spoke on the way home, the only sounds heard were the cooing of the babies and the rumble of the truck engine. The silence continued at their loft. When it was time to go to bed, Cristina turned away from him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was jealous."

She turned around and looked at him. "Why?"

"Because you kept talking about him, every day in this kind of hero-worship way. Buchanan did this, he said that, he did something so awesome in the surgery. That was just the beginning," he said.

"Then all that stuff about how much you looked like his late wife added to my confusion," he said. "And I know he is the type of mentor that you admire and it is hard to forget your history with your previous male mentors. Then, I kept noticing the way he looked at you and it wasn't in a professional colleague kind of way. The jealousy kept building up in me."

"Then you should have said something to let me know how you felt," Cristina told him. "So I could tell you how stupid you are to feel that way. I would not cheat on you. You're my husband. You're the father of my children. I love you."

He reached out for her and brought her close to him. "So if you ever feel this way again, just tell me," she said.

"What about Buchanan? Did I make a fool out of myself?" he said.

"No, we had a chat about it. He said if he were in your shoes, he would feel the same way. So, we're good on that," she said.

"Good," as he kissed her good night.


	17. Chapter 17 The shooting

**Again, no grief on anything medical.**

* * *

><p>He found her surrounded by boxes outside of her closet. The nine-month-old twins were also crawling around the boxes, being more of a hindrance than a help.<p>

"What are you doing?" Owen asked.

"I'm making a donation to the women's shelter. I'm giving them my maternity clothes. Some of the ladies are pregnant and they can use them. I am not going to use them again," Cristina said, as she folded a maternity top into a box.

"What! No more babies!" he cried in mock horror.

She gave him an evil glare. "Remember kids from A to Z. We got those already."

"Yeah, we do and they are the greatest," he said. He picked up the two babies and placed them in a playpen.

"Are you nearly done?" he asked. "We can drop the kids off at my mom's. She's been dying to have them. Then we can head off to the shelter and drop those off. Then we can have the day to ourselves."

"Yup, I'm done here. Let's have lunch at one of those restaurants near the water. We can watch the boats in the harbor," she said. "It's good that we actually have our day off together."

At his mom's house, the babies put on a major crying performance, as they let it be known their dissatisfaction about being left behind. Anna was a little more vocal in her protestations than Zach, who still showed that he possessed a great pair of lungs.

They headed off to the shelter for battered women. Cristina and Owen met with the administrator Julie and handed over the boxes of clothing. "Thank you so much, Dr. Yang. The women will appreciate it," she said.

"Some of it is brand new. I didn't get chance to wear all of them," Cristina said.

Julie beamed, "Would you like to meet some of our residents, who will get these clothes? They are out in the garden."

"Sure," said Owen as Julie led them to the shelter's garden.

They met Luanne, Josslyn and Cheryl, who all showed signs of bruises on their faces and bodies. Cristina said quietly to Owen, "Imagine being pregnant and someone beating the crap out of you." He shook his head at the thought.

The women relayed their stories of abuse at the hands of their husbands. It was heart-wrenching that these women lived through such lives of horror.

They were having a quiet conversation with the ladies, when suddenly, a man jumped over the fence, wildly waving a gun.

"Oh, no," Luanne cried out. "It's my husband, Jerry. He's found me!"

"Luanne, you better come home!" Jerry shouted. "If you don't come home, I am going to hurt you! You're having my child and you're not gonna keep it away from me."

Owen's first thought was keeping Cristina safe. He pushed her back behind him. Cristina just knew that Owen's savior complex was going to kick in.

"You hit me, Jerry!" Luanne screamed at him. "How can you hit me when I am carrying your child?"

"I am sorry, Luanne. I am not going to hit you again, I promise," Jerry quickly changed his tune.

"You said that the last time when you came for me at my sister's house. Lies, all lies! No more fake promises!" Luanne yelled.

"Luanne, you better come back home! I am going to shoot some people here, if you don't leave this place," he yelled back.

"Now, we don't want anyone getting hurt," Owen said in what he thought was his calmest tone. "Let's all keep calm, so no one gets hurt."

"Who the hell are you?" Jerry yelled. "Are you Luanne's new boyfriend?"

"No," Owen said. "I am Dr Owen Hunt and I only met Luanne today."

"So you've got your eyes on her, fancy doctor. Do you? Planning on taking her away from me?" Jerry continued.

"No, I am married. I just don't want things to get out of hand here. Maybe you should put down the gun and we can all discuss it, calmly," Owen said. From the corner of his eye, he could see the shelter's security guard, looking like he was getting ready to pounce on the perpetrator.

"So, fancy doctor, what are you doing here among all of these ladies? Who's the little one behind you that you seem to be hiding?" Jerry said.

"That's my wife. Don't come near her," Owen warned.

"So you have your wife. I just want my wife. I want what belongs to me. Luanne, come here," Jerry said, as he waved his gun around.

"Stay back," Owen said, as Jerry seemed to be lunging forward. Jerry had this incredulous look on his face, that this man could have the audacity to try to order him around.

It was at this point that the security guard jumped on Jerry, taking him down. The gun went off, hitting the chest of one unfortunate victim.

"Cristina," Owen said. "That was really a close one."

There was no response. "Cristina?" he turned around to see her on the ground, bleeding from her chest.

He rushed to her. Cristina looked up at him, "I've been...shot?" she said.

"Oh, baby, stay with me," he said. He yelled, "Someone please call 911! She's been shot!"

He pressed down on the wound to prevent her from bleeding out. "Just stay with me, Cristina. Please."

The ambulance, it seemed to Owen, took forever, even though in reality, it took only five minutes to get there. Cristina was bundled off into the ambulance with Owen and the paramedic, riding with her.

At Seattle Grace, Kepner and two residents were awaiting the arrival of the ambulance. She was surprised to see Dr Hunt, coming out of the ambulance but even more shocked to see Cristina as the patient.

"Oh, my God, it's Cristina!" she cried.

"Kepner, page Buchanan emergency. She has been shot in the chest. Have him meet us at the OR," Owen said, as they rushed her into the hospital.

April could see the stress on Owen's face. "What happened?"

"We were at the women's shelter to drop off Cristina's maternity clothes and one of the women at the shelter, her husband came, waving a gun, demanding that she come home. The security tackled him and the gun went off and I guess Cristina got shot." Owen said, most agitated.

They were met by Buchanan at the OR. "I'll take over now, Dr Hunt. You need to let go," Michael told Owen. "You cannot be in there."

"Please save her, Dr Buchanan," Owen pleaded.

"You can be assured that I will do my very best," Michael said, as they took Cristina into the OR.

As he watched them disappear into the OR, Owen's phone rang. It was his mother.

"Owen, how is your day off going? I just wanted to know what time you're going to pick up the babies. They're asleep, right now," he heard his mom's chipper voice say.

"Mom, Cristina's been shot. She is in surgery right now," Owen's voice cracked.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Some crazed husband came to the shelter and was waving a gun around. The gun went off and Cristina got shot," he said, still not quite believing it himself.

"Oh my God. Owen, don't worry about the babies. You can leave them here as long as you want. Just keep me updated on her condition," Mrs. Hunt said.

"Yeah, Mom. Thanks about the babies. I'll let you know what's happening," he said. "Bye."

"Bye, son."

Owen considered going into the viewing gallery to watch the surgery but he didn't think he could watch them operate on Cristina. He had seen many mangled bodies in his life, but he found it impossible to see Cristina like that. There was only one place he felt he could go.

Michael looked at Cristina's face as she lay on the table. He could empathize with Hunt about what he was feeling right now. She looked so much like Tina. He couldn't be there to save Tina but he was going to do his best to save Cristina. He didn't want Hunt to experience the devastation he felt when Tina died.

Bailey, who was also on the case, bent down and whispered to Cristina, "This is the second time you've been on this table. Don't you dare die on me, Yang. You've got too much to live for. You will be one of the best surgeons this hospital has ever produced. You have a loving husband and two beautiful babies. You have to fight to live."

April, as the trauma fellow, was also on the case and she tried to fight back the tears. She needed to be strong to get through this surgery.

Michael looked up at the gallery. Cristina's friends were there – Avery, Karev, Torres, Lexie Grey, Shepherd, even the Chief. Callie and Lexie were crying. Missing were Hunt and Cristina's best friend Meredith Grey. Maybe they couldn't deal with it, he thought.

"Let's get started, Bokhee. Ten blade," he said.

Meanwhile, Owen had found himself in the chapel. He had never been there before but he just couldn't think of any other place he would like to be.

Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. "Me and my goddamned hero complex," he thought. "Why couldn't I just grab her hand and run out of there?" But he knew he wouldn't have done anything differently. There was no way he was going to leave all those women defenseless at the hands of a gunman.

He heard the shuffle of feet and Meredith sat down next to him.

"April told me what happened," Meredith told him.

"I keep replaying it in my mind, wondering what could I have done to prevent this," he said. "And now she is in surgery, fighting for her life. All she wanted to do today was to have lunch near the water and watch the boats in the harbor."

"She has to make it, Owen. She is my best friend, my sister, the other half of me," Meredith said, tears rolling down her face.

"She's my life," Owen said.

Meredith took Owen's hand in hers. They each said a silent prayer.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Reviews are appreciated. They are the only reason I keep writing this. I would have given up a long time ago.**


	18. Chapter 18 Joy

**A/N: No grief on medical stuff**

* * *

><p>Owen sat alone in the chapel as Meredith had left to go check on her post-op patients.<p>

He wondered what his life would be like without Cristina. Even if he didn't want to think about it, he knew it was a possibility that he would have to raise his two children by himself. His children were only babies and it broke his heart that if the worst happened, they would never even remember their mother.

He had fallen in love with her the first time he saw her, when the Chief told her to treat his injuries on that cold Seattle night. He had never believed in love at first sight until he met Cristina.

She had seemed more interested in scrubbing in on a surgery than she was about taking care of him. Maybe he needed to impress her and that's when he impulsively grabbed the staple gun to use on his leg. She was suitably impressed by his bravado and they did have a moment there that he thought that he could have kissed her but Callie had come in and interrupted them.

Who could have guessed that she would have impaled by an icicle before the end of the night? He had picked her off the ground, pulled out the icicle and sutured her wound. He knew he was going back to Iraq but there was something about this young resident that he couldn't resist.

He wanted to taste her lips so badly, so he took his chances and it was everything he thought it would be. He sometimes wondered how far it would have gone, if she hadn't stopped him. Even as he left, he knew that someday, he would see her again.

They had gone through so much together in the last four years and she had stood by him as he fought through his PTSD. She had saved him, yet he wasn't the one who could save her now.

He wondered how the surgery was going, but still, he could not make his feet move to walk to the viewing gallery.

Maybe it was probably better that Owen had not watched Cristina's surgery because it was not going well in the OR. Buchanan was still looking to extract the bullet, when she coded on the OR table.

Bailey jumped into action to shock Cristina's heart to start beating again.

"You do not get to do this, Cristina Yang. No matter how grown up you get, I am still your resident and I am ordering you as my intern to come back to me. I lost George, I almost lost Izzie, I am not going to lose another one of my interns. So you do **not** get to do this," Bailey told Cristina.

Bailey was not going to give up. After three tries, Cristina's heart went back to normal sinus rhythm. Bailey breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After several hours, the surgery was over. Cristina had come through it like the fighter that she was. Buchanan left the OR in search of Hunt and found him alone in the chapel, where he had been for the duration of the surgery. Owen was sitting there, looking defeated with his head in his hands.

"Dr Hunt," Michael said quietly. Owen looked up, expecting to hear the worst.

"She made it through. We got the bullet out and we repaired the damage. She may be small but she is strong. She coded on the table but Dr Bailey brought her back. She is a scrappy little fighter, your wife is," Michael said.

At that moment, Michael's voice seemed to be the sweetest thing Owen had ever heard in his life.

"Thank you, Michael," Owen said, offering his hand.

"Just doing my job, Owen. I am glad I could save her," Michael said, as he took Owen's hand and shook it warmly. It was the first time that the two men had ever called each other by their first names.

"Where is she?" Owen asked.

"She is in recovery, right now. She won't be awake for hours. You can pop in and see her. However, she is going to have to stay here for a while as she recovers, so I would suggest that you go home and get some of her pjs because if I know Dr Yang, she is not going to stand for being in that hospital gown for long," Michael said.

"Thank you," Owen said, once again. He felt so elated as he ran to the recovery room. She had tubes running out of her but she was alive. He kissed her cheek. "I will be back, baby."

Owen headed back to the firehouse. As he stepped into the loft, he found it eerily quiet, devoid of the sound of noisy babies or the patter of Cristina's bare feet on the wooden floors.

He packed a bag for Cristina with her pajamas, underwear, toiletries and her fluffy slippers. He packed a bag for himself because he was planning to sleep in a cot in her room. He also packed a bag for the babies with their clothing, diapers, toiletries and baby food as they were going to spend a couple of days with his mom.

The first stop was at his mom's house. He hugged her, tightly.

He looked into her blue eyes, the same intense shade as his own. "She's going to be alright, mom."

She smiled, "I am so happy for you, Owen. And for them," she said, gesturing to the crawling babies in the living room.

He went to see his babies, who both put up their arms to be lifted up by their dad. He sat in an armchair and held them close. He started crying but they weren't tears of sadness, but rather of relief that his family was still intact.

Anna looked up at her dad, a little confused. Why was dada crying? Tears to Anna meant only that she was hungry or unhappy or her diaper was dirty. She gave him a quizzical look. He gazed at her and had to smile because it was such a Cristina-like expression. "I'm just happy, Anna, that your mama is going to come back to us," he whispered, as he brushed an unruly curl from her forehead.

He kissed the babies goodbye and headed back to the hospital. Cristina had been moved to her own private room and the nurses had already kindly set up a cot for him in there. He sat there, watching her.

Meredith stood at the doorway, "How is she doing?"

"She's been asleep since the surgery. But she made it through and that's all that matters," he said.

Meredith went to Cristina and stroked her friend's hair, "I love you, Cristina Yang. You gave me a hell of a scare."

She turned to Owen, "Do you need me to stay with you?"

Owen shook his head. "No, it's okay. She will still be asleep for a couple more hours."

Meredith said, "I will come by in the morning to see her, again. Heading home with Derek, now. Tell her I was here." She kissed her friend's cheek and left.

Owen was so tired, even more exhausted than if he had been operating all day. Mentally, he was drained. He laid down on the cot and watched her sleep. Soon, his eyes grew heavy and he too, fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Cristina's eyes fluttered open. She knew she was in the hospital. She knew those ceilings and walls like the back of her hand. This was her second home.<p>

She remembered the events of the day before at the shelter. She had been shot. She still could not believe that it actually happened. So that is what being shot feels like, she thought.

She looked around and saw Owen asleep on a cot next to her bed. She was amused that he was too big for the small cot. She tried to call out to him but there was this tube in her mouth that didn't allow her to speak.

There was a plastic cup on the side table next to her bed. She reached over, picked it up, took aim and hit him square on the head.

Owen woke up with a start. Something had just bonked him on the head. He rubbed his eyes and found Cristina's chocolate brown eyes staring at him.

"Cristina, you're up," he kissed her on the forehead.

She wanted to get that darn tube out of her mouth and tugged at it. He gently removed it.

"Thirsty," she said. Her throat felt so dry. It hurt to talk.

"Alright, I will get you some ice chips," he said and left, returning in less than two minutes. He ran the ice on her lips and then placed it in her mouth. The cold ice felt like heaven to her parched mouth.

As she sucked on the ice chips, she said, "Babies?"

"They are at my mom's. She's going to look after them for a couple of days. I will bring them in when you're feeling a little bit better," he said.

"Meredith?" she asked.

He said, "Meredith was here last night. She said that she would come by again this morning. Meredith and I bonded yesterday. We prayed for you in the chapel."

Cristina let out a little laugh at the thought. She would have laughed harder but her chest hurt too much. She was often aware of the conflict between Meredith and Owen and it was usually over her.

"Working?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am going to the pit today. I need to keep my mind occupied. But you can have the nurses page me if you need me," he said. "I am sure everybody will want to come by and visit you, so you won't be lonely."

"Love?" she asked.

"Yes, I love you very much. I didn't know how I would have survived without you. I am so glad you're still here with me," he kissed her lightly on the mouth.

Cristina smiled and said, "Love you." She squeezed his hand, tightly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: (a) As always, reviews are greatly appreciated for this story. It makes me want to continue.**

**(b) Also, can you give some love to my one-shot fan fic, The Dinner Party? It is totally different from this one. Just click on my name at the top and you will be led to a listing of my stories. Reviews there are also appreciated. **


	19. Chapter 19 A new hospital romance

Cristina had stayed a week at the hospital after the surgery and then had gone home to the loft to recuperate. Her days at the hospital had not been lonely. Everyone came to visit and spent time with her, regaling her with stories of their surgeries.

At home, Owen had hired a private nurse to stay with her. As she could not take care of the babies while she was recovering, he carried them to the hospital with him, so they could stay in the daycare. The nurse was a stern, older German woman, who took no nonsense from Cristina, and expected her to rest.

It was so quiet at the loft sometimes, she could scream. She almost wished she was back at the hospital, so her friends could visit her and tell her of their OR adventures.

After five weeks at home, Cristina had enough. She needed to go back to work, she told Owen.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You could stay home for another two weeks."

"No, I am very sure. I can't take another day with Nurse Ratched. I am fine," Cristina said.

"She is not Nurse Ratched. Hilda has been very good to you and under her care, you've recovered at record speed," he said.

"Okay, she's a good nurse, I give her that. But she never smiles and she doesn't like any of my jokes," she said.

"She's German. Maybe she doesn't understand your sense of humor," he said.

"I'm funny in any language," she retorted. "She just doesn't understand funny."

"Well, if you're coming back to work, I need to tell you know about the latest romantic relationship at the hospital," he said

"What? Owen Hunt, are you actually gossiping?" she chuckled.

"I do not gossip but this one should be of interest to you," he smiled. "Michael Buchanan and April Kepner. They worked together on your case and I guess things sparked between them.'

"I can't believe this. I am dying on the table and they made a love connection. Geez," she said.

"I think it happened afterwards. Since they were working on your case, he asked me about April because she is a trauma fellow in my department. I told him that she was single," he said. "And he asked her out."

"I wonder if he knows she is a virgin. For all I know, she and he may have already hooked up and she may no longer be a virgin," Cristina said.

"April's a virgin?" Owen was incredulous.

"Well, nothing happened when she was dating Stark because we all ribbed her about it. She got upset and broke off things with him. Besides, he was way old, like in his fifties," she said.

"Says the girl who dated Colin Marlowe. Stark is younger than Marlowe," he said, laughing.

"Will you not let that go?" she said. "I was impressionable and he was a cardio god."

"Have you ever dated a guy your own age? I am older than you and the two ex-boyfriends that I do know of, they're older than you," he said.

Cristina thought hard. "When I was 19, I dated my chemistry TA. He was four years older than me. That's close enough."

Owen shook his head.

"You know I am glad that Michael is dating April. The guy is great and he saved your life. He deserves some happiness after all he has been through," Owen said, thoughtfully.

"So no more jealousy from you, again?" she asked.

"Nope," he said, emphatically.

"Aw, shucks," she said jokingly. "Jealousy sex was really, really hot."

"Seriously?" he said, as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "It's been six weeks since your surgery. I think you need a reminder of how hot being with me could really be. Without any jealousy."

He carried her over to the bed and slipped off her t-shirt to reveal her bare breasts. Cristina suddenly became self-conscious as she felt the surgical scar on her chest.

He looked at her, "It's okay. You're beautiful. That scar says you're a survivor." He gently kissed the scar.

This is why she loved this man, she thought.

As they slipped off the rest of their clothes, he said, with a grin, "Okay, Mrs. Hunt. Hot sex coming right up."

* * *

><p>The next day, Cristina, Owen and the babies headed to the hospital for her first day of work since her surgery.<p>

"Welcome back, Cristina," Dr Bailey said. "Good to see you back where you belong."

"Thanks, Dr Bailey," Cristina said, happily. "I couldn't stand to be cooped up at home, anymore."

They dropped off the babies at the daycare, gave each other a quick kiss before they separated to go to their different departments.

Cristina was about to knock on Buchanan's door when she heard a giggle coming from the other side of the door. That giggle sounded very familiar and she knew it was not Michael. April Kepner!

The giggling was followed by some low moaning. "Oh my God, they're doing it in there! April Kepner is no longer a virgin," Cristina thought. She recoiled in horror. She decided she had no choice but to wait it out and settled down on a gurney.

Half an hour later, April emerged from the office, fixing her auburn hair and straightening her lab coat. As she looked up, her eyes met Cristina's gaze. April was immediately flustered when Cristina gave her a knowing smile. April could not get out of there fast enough.

As April hurriedly disappeared down the corridor, Cristina got up from the gurney and knocked on Buchanan's door. "Just a minute," said Michael.

A dishevelled Michael opened the door and let Cristina in. "Welcome back, Cristina. How are you feeling?"

"Clearly, not as good as you," Cristina wanted to say but the words that actually came out of her mouth were "Doing well, Michael. Eager to get back to work."

"Great," Michael said, as he noticed a couple of case files had fallen on to the ground during the recent activities that had just taken place in the office. He hoped Cristina had not noticed the files on the floor.

He made a mental note that he and April should meet in the on-call rooms, instead. Cristina was back and she would be in and out of his office on a regular basis. Extra-curricular activities in the office had to be curtailed.

Unfortunately for Michael, Cristina did notice the fallen case files and thought, "Hmmm. They did the deed on his desk. I don't think I will be able to look at that desk the same way again."

"Do we have anything interesting coming up?" Cristina asked.

Michael nodded. He had no choice but to pick up a file from the floor and he handed it to Cristina. "This is a good one."

* * *

><p>At lunch break, Cristina and Meredith were sitting together into the cafeteria. "They did it on his desk, Mer," Cristina squealed. "There were files on the floor. His hair was all mussed up. April came out there, fixing her lab coat and putting her hair back in place."<p>

"I knew that they started seeing each other but I never knew April could get down and dirty like the rest of us," Meredith said, laughing.

"Maybe she needed to meet the right guy," Cristina answered.

April came into the dining area with her lunch tray. She saw Meredith and Cristina giggling at their table. She contemplated joining them but she knew that Cristina suspected that she and Michael were _in flagrante delicto_ in his office. "Come on, April, you're a big girl," she told herself. "You can have sex with your boyfriend. No big deal."

Despite her thoughts, she was a shade of pink as she sat down next to the twisted sisters, who seemed to have conspiratorial smiles.

"Hello, April," Meredith said, sweetly.

"Hello," April said and stared at her food.

"Congratulations," Cristina said.

"What for?" April asked.

"Well, we've heard things," Meredith said. "We didn't know you had it in you."

"You're just like the rest of us," Cristina said. "Doing it in supply closets, on-call rooms and attendings' offices."

April's blush deepened to a bright red. She didn't know what to say.

"Was he good?" Cristina asked. "He looks like he could be good."

April retorted, indignantly, "I do not talk about my sex life."

Cristina and Meredith giggled. "Ah ha. You admitted it. You have a sex life," Meredith said. "Good for you, April."

April couldn't help but smile.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Reviews are love. Thank you. So please leave your thoughts. I have already written half of Chapter 20.**


	20. Chapter 20 First birthday

At 11 months old, Anna and Zach Hunt were typical babies for their ages, curious and active. A little too active, much to the chagrin of their parents because the babies got into everything at home.

It was amazing to see the babies develop. Zach's motor skills were much sharper. He was the first to take actual steps. He had been making efforts to raise himself by holding on to furniture and trying to walk. The first day he walked without any assistance, he made three steps before collapsing on to the floor. He looked so pleased at his accomplishment. Both his parents were there to see it and they were so proud of him.

Anna, however, was the first to speak. Her first word was a loud and resounding, "no" when her brother tried to take one of her toys. She smacked his hand really hard and Zach was, at first, shocked by this sudden act of violence from his sibling. Finally realizing that the smack really hurt, he screwed up his face and started to cry loudly.

"Anna," Owen said, "don't be so mean," as he picked up the little redhead to comfort him. The curly-haired baby girl seemed unmoved by her brother's wailing and continued playing with her toys.

Owen turned to his wife, "That's really your daughter. Her first word was 'no.' And then she hit her brother and wasn't sorry about it. Kinda reminds me of when you and Karev were residents and fighting over a surgery."

Cristina smiled because it was so true. "Oh, by the way, Callie has been asking me if we're planning a first birthday party for the twins."

"A birthday party? They won't even know what's going on," Owen said.

"Well, she says that we should do it because it is a monumental milestone. It's their first birthday party and we can take all of these pictures and they can have the memories when they get older," Cristina said. "Personally, I just think Callie just wants to have a party."

"I guess we can have one," Owen said. "Are you going to plan it?"

"Hell, no. I am going to leave that up to Callie," Cristina said.

The next time she saw Callie, she told her that she and Owen had agreed that they would have a first birthday party for the twins.

"Can I help?" Callie asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought.

"I don't know, Callie," Cristina decided that she would josh with her a little bit. "I do recall that circus extravaganza you planned for Sofia's first birthday. I don't think my goddaughter has gotten over that as yet."

"Sofia has so many pictures and home movies to remind her of her first birthday party. She will be grateful when she gets older," Callie said, excitedly.

"Yes, especially the one where she is bawling her eyes out, sitting on that clown. I am sure she has developed a lifelong pathological fear of clowns," Cristina said.

"Who knew that clown face would scare her?" Callie said. "Please let me help."

"Alright," Cristina sighed, acting like it was a big effort for her to let Callie help. "Maybe you can come up with a theme, the decorations, the invitations, the party supplies, the food, the music and the games. We have one month to plan it. Owen will pay for everything."

"Yes, yes, yes," Callie screamed with delight. As she walked away, her head was so filled with so many ideas about what she could do with that party. She didn't realize till later that Cristina had slyly handed over the whole party planning process to her. "Ha, Cristina, I see what you did. But I don't mind," she thought to herself. "I love me a party."

* * *

><p>Leaving Calliope Torres to her own devices to plan this party would come back to kick Cristina in the head. One week before the event, Callie invited Cristina and Meredith to the conference room to discuss the details of the party. Cristina should have realized how deep in trouble she was when Callie broke out the Power Point presentation.<p>

Going through her presentation, it was very clear that Callie was very proud of what she had done.

A synopsis of Callie's 20-slide presentation:

_Venue – Cristina's empty second floor at the firehouse._

_Theme – Disney_

_Decorations – Cinderella's castle, surrounded by a fairytale forest._

_Food – a celebration of Disney characters including Donald Duck chocolates, Goofy cupcakes, Mickey Mouse cookies, Pluto hot dogs, Minnie Mouse hamburgers, Winnie the Pooh and Friends three-tiered birthday cake_

_Music – Party DJ, playing current dance music, interspersed with classic Disney movie soundtrack music._

_Games – All games will have a Disney theme._

_Invitations – Already sent to all surgical staff with children under the age of four._

_Mickey and Minnie will greet all arriving guests._

"The real pièce de résistance of the party is that everyone, including parents will be dressed as a Disney character," Callie concluded, triumphantly. "Thoughts, comments, girls?"

Meredith and Cristina were left dumbstruck. It was a full two minutes before Cristina finally found her voice.

"I really wasn't expecting this whole large-scale production, Callie. Isn't this a little over the top for a birthday party for one-year-olds?" Cristina said. "I just thought we could have a bouncy castle, some food and some cake and ice cream."

Callie's eyes narrowed. "You gave me the planning of this party and now, we are going to go through with it. The props have already been built, the invitations have been sent out and I have the costumes for your babies," she said, pushing two boxes towards Cristina and one box towards Meredith. "Anna will be Pooh Bear, Zach will be Tigger, Zola will be Eeyore and my little Sofia will be Piglet."

"The whole idea of parents dressing up in costumes. Can we nix that?" Cristina asked, dreading the idea of a costume party. She not only had to find a costume for herself but one for Owen, too. The horror of it all, she thought.

"No, no, no. I already got my Snow White costume and Arizona has been fitted for a Cinderella costume," Callie said.

Cristina could not believe this was happening. Meredith gave her the "I told you so" look.

Callie was clearly not budging. "Cristina Yang, you are going to do this. You want to know why. You never told me that you were pregnant until you were five months into it. I was your roommate for two years and there I was, left in the dark, along with all of the other attendings. How did you think that made me feel? Then you had the audacity to deny me the opportunity to plan a baby shower when I begged you. You owe me this."

She then broke out in rapid Spanish and Cristina was certain that Callie was letting loose with a few Spanish curse words in between.

"Okay, okay, Callie. I guess I can suck it up for one day," Cristina said, picking up the two boxes from the table. "This day better be brilliant."

"I can promise you that your babies are going to have the best memories ever," Callie said.

"How can they? They're only going to be one," Cristina said.

"From all of the pictures and the home movies, Cristina. Sheesh," Callie continued.

Cristina left the conference room with a heavy heart. She had to tell her husband the bad news.

* * *

><p>Cristina looked at herself in the mirror as she braided her hair. "I don't look half-bad as Pocahontas," she thought.<p>

She looked across at Owen, already dressed as John Smith, struggling to put a squirmy Zach into his Tigger costume. Anna was already Pooh Bear-ed out and was relaxing against a pillow.

"I still don't know how I agreed to all this," she told him.

"You are beautiful as Pocahontas," he admired.

"And you make a very handsome John Smith," she gave back the compliment.

He finally got Zach into his costume and he laid him next to his sister. "I hate sounding like a gushy mom but these are the cutest babies in the world." Cristina grinned. "Get the camera, Owen."

Proud Daddy Owen needn't be asked twice, as he started taking shots of the babies from all angles.

"I guess we're ready. Let's go down and greet our guests," Cristina said, picking up Anna, while Owen took up Zach.

Their second floor had been transformed into an enchanted forest with Cinderella's castle as the main centerpiece. Snow White Callie was already there in her glee, admiring the handiwork of the prop builders. Cinderella Arizona was holding Sofia, in her Piglet costume, and showing her all of the lights.

Cristina had to admit that Callie did a fantastic job with the decorations. She had never seen her bare, drab, empty second floor look so dressed up. Many of their friends were already there but Cristina realized that she didn't know half of these people in the party, their only reason for being invited was they had a child under the age of four.

It was interesting to see what costumes their friends chose. Meredith and Derek were Jessie and Woody from Toy Story, while Mark was Buzz Lightyear. Lexie was Princess Jasmine while Jackson was Aladdin, April was the Little Mermaid while her new beau Michael was Prince Eric. Bailey was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, while Alex chose to show off his fine physique as Tarzan.

Callie ran that party like a well-oiled machine. Cristina had to give her friend major props for the food, music and games. She thought that Callie could have a successful side career in event planning.

As she and Owen held their babies to cut their three-tiered Winnie the Pooh cake, Cristina could feel her eyes welling up. Her babies were one year old. She could not imagine her life without them.

The flash of the many cameras preserved the moment in time for them. Callie was right about the memories, Cristina thought, but not only for the babies but also for her and Owen.

As they put their babies in their cribs that night, Cristina admitted to Owen that it was a fabulous party and that Callie had gone beyond the call of duty in producing it. "Let's buy her a great present," Cristina said. Owen agreed.

"Hey, John Smith, do you want to discover the new world?" Cristina said, gesturing him towards the bed.

"Certainly, Pocahontas, if you're there with me," Owen said.

They both laughed, as they fell onto the bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it has taken me a while to update this but I started writing an AU fanfic called Teenage Dreams, featuring Owen and Cristina, and I got caught up in that. Please check it out. It is fun.**

**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS. ALWAYS APPRECIATED.**


	21. Chapter 21 Kindergarten

**A/N: I know it's been about a while since I updated this. Sorry about that. I started writing three other stories – all AU fanfic. They are Teenage Dreams, Stormy Weather and Blind Date. If you haven't checked them out as yet, please do. Much appreciated.**

**With regards to this story, I am doing a time jump of four years, so that the babies are now five years old. There's only so much you could do with babies. I needed to have them talking.**

* * *

><p>It was rare that five-year-old Zachary Hunt would not be up by the crack of dawn. He was an early bird, unlike his lazy sister Annabella, who loved to grab a few extra winks. Every morning, Zach would climb the stairs from his second floor bedroom to his parents' bedroom on the third floor.<p>

Sometimes, he would catch them doing some wrestling. His parents love to wrestle a lot, he thought. He usually respectfully allowed them to finish their wrestling match, before letting his presence be known. After all, he didn't like to be disturbed when he was playing his games. It seemed to him, though, that Daddy seemed to be winning all of the time, not that Momma seemed to mind. In fact, she always smiled after their wrestling match. He did think that Daddy should let Momma win some of the time. It was only fair.

Today was different. As Cristina emerged from underneath Owen, she wondered where Zach was. He usually was up there really early in the morning and they usually tried to finish their lovemaking before he showed up.

"Hey, shouldn't Zach be up here now?" Owen said.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Cristina said. She pulled on her pajamas and headed down to the second floor. They had converted the second floor to be a kids' domain. Zach and Anna each had their own bedrooms and bathrooms, a huge play area and a homework/study room. At five, they didn't use the homework/study area as yet but Owen felt that they should designate an area where the children would be able to do their homework, keep their books and have their own computers. He was thinking about their future academic careers.

Cristina looked in on Anna, who, as expected, was still under her covers, fast asleep. Her long, dark curly hair was spread across her pillow. Then, she went to Zach's room and found the little redhead, staring at his ceiling.

"What's up, Zach?" she said, as she gave him a kiss on his forehead. "Why didn't you come up today?"

The little redheaded boy looked at her with his blue eyes. "Momma, I think we should have another baby. I want a brother," he said.

Cristina was alarmed. "Why do you want to have a brother? You have your sister, Anna. She keeps you company."

"Momma," he said, most solemnly. "Anna is a girl. She doesn't want to play with my dump trucks, trains and soldiers. She wants to play with stupid dollies and comb their hair and have tea parties. She has Zola and Sofia to play with and I got nobody. Please, Momma, I want a brother."

"Okay, Zach, we will think about it," Cristina said, hoping that it was just a passing phase that her five-year-old son was going through. "Let's go upstairs and have some breakfast. Do you need to use the bathroom first?" Zach nodded and got out of bed and went to the bathroom. As she waited for him, Cristina made a mental note to discuss this predicament with Owen and what they were going to do appease Zach.

As Zach emerged from the bathroom, he put out his hand for Cristina to hold and they both trudged up the stairs. Owen was already making breakfast for the family.

"What are you making, Daddy?" Zach asked.

"Mini-pancakes with maple syrup," Owen answered. "Here is your first stack."

"Yum," Zach said, as he launched into his breakfast.

"Owen," Cristina said. "We need to talk." She ushered him into their bedroom.

"Zach is asking for a brother," she said. "Can you imagine that horror?"

But she didn't get the reaction that she had expected from Owen. "I don't mind," he said.

"What?" Cristina shrieked.

"If you want to have another baby, I am totally up for it," he said. "In more ways than one," he added, with a smile.

"I don't want to have another baby. I am talking to you so you can help me convince Zach that life will be okay without a brother," she said, starting to pace the floor.

"Cristina, I have always wanted children. I love the two that we have, more than life itself. If that is all we're all going to have, that's fine with me. But if we were blessed with more children, I will be okay with that, too. I guess it comes from being an only child; I always wanted to have a brother. I understand how Zach feels," he said.

"I am an only child, too but it never bothered me that I had no siblings," Cristina said.

"Well, I guess Zach is more like me in that respect," he said.

"Zach is exactly like you. He looks like you, he thinks like you. He is your 'mini-me'," she said. "So, you're not going to help me with this?"

"I'm with Zach. He only has little girls around him all of the time. Kinda hard on the little guy," he said.

They both walked out of the bedroom and faced their five-year-old son. He gave them a huge smile. "See, Daddy, I finished my pancakes," he said, triumphantly. "More, please."

"Okay, buddy," Owen said, going to refill his little boy's plate.

"I am going to wake up Anna, so she can have her breakfast. They can't be late for their first day of kindergarten," Cristina said. She ran down the stairs and went into Anna's room.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," as she gently shook her curly-haired daughter awake.

"Let me sleep, Momma," Anna groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Today is a big day, Anna. First day of kindergarten. No more going to daycare at the hospital," Cristina said. "Sofia and Zola have been going there since last year. You already have friends there."

"Yay, I have friends there so I won't feel lonely," she said. Then she said something that tugged at Cristina's heart. "Zach won't have any friends there."

"Come on, Anna, go get washed up and let's go have breakfast. Then Daddy and I will drop you off to school," Cristina said.

"Okay, Momma," the little girl said, as she went off to the bathroom.

Cristina thought about poor little Zach, all alone at kindergarten. He wasn't as boisterous or as outgoing as Anna. She wondered if he was going to have a hard time, adjusting to the new environment.

She and Anna went up the stairs, together. "Morning, Daddy," Anna said, as she ran to her father for a big kiss. He picked her up, "Morning, princess. Pancakes for my little girl?"

"Yes, Daddy," Anna said, as her daddy put her on a chair at the table.

Zach had already finished his second helping and he turned around to look at Cristina. "I'm ready to get changed, Momma."

He took Cristina's hand down to his room. She supervised him brushing his teeth and then, she changed him into his first day of school outfit. He wore a blue striped shirt to match his eyes, jeans and sneakers. He looked so adorable that she hugged and kissed him over and over. He laughed and laughed.

Anna and Owen had come downstairs, after she had her breakfast. She had been very particular about what she planned to wear for her first day of kindergarten. As Anna brushed her teeth, Owen laid out her clothes on the bed. She had decided on a pair of khaki cargo pants, a mint-green blouse and leather sandals.

As Owen dressed his little girl, he thought about how proud he was of his little family. He never knew he could love anybody as much as he loved his wife and kids. He started brushing Anna's unruly ebony curls that were so much like her mother's. "How do you want it today, Anna?" he asked.

"I want two ponytails," she said.

"Your wish is my command," he said, as he set to work on creating two ponytails from all of that hair. Cristina looked in on them. It always amazed her that her big, tough, strapping ex-army husband would be the one, who combed their daughter's hair everyday.

Soon, everyone was ready for the day ahead. They went first to the kindergarten, which was located about two blocks from the hospital. The kindergarten was part of a school that ran straight from K-5. As soon as they opened the doors, Anna eagerly got out. Zach was a little less eager in coming out of the car. He held on to Cristina's hand, while Anna took Owen's hand. They walked into the school to meet their new teacher.

"Hello, Dr Hunt and Dr Yang," Miss Michaels said. "Are Anna and Zach ready for kindergarten?"

Anna grinned happily, while Zach held on tighter to Cristina's hand. Miss Michaels showed them around the facility. It was at this point Anna spotted Zola and Sofia, sitting on a bench in the playground. She released Owen's hand and ran to meet her friends.

"Oh, I see, Anna already has friends here," Miss Michaels said. "It will be easy for her to adjust."

"Well, we've got to go now," Cristina said, as she bent down to her son's eye level. His blue eyes were rimmed with tears. "It's going to be okay, Zach." She kissed him on his cheek. "Yeah, buddy," Owen said, as he gave his son a hug. "Soon, you will have lots of friends."

As they drove away and waved goodbye to Zach, he cut a forlorn little figure, holding on to his teacher's hand.

Cristina silently wiped away a tear from her face. Her babies were no longer babies. They were growing up.

"Hey, why are you crying, Cristina?" Owen asked.

"They're just growing up so fast," she said.

"Aw," he said. "Well, we could always have another one."

She glared at him. He chuckled.

Owen headed to his office. He was now Chief of Surgery, while Cristina was an attending in cardio-thoracic surgery, working under Dr. Buchanan. She saw Meredith at the nurses' station. Meredith was now an attending in neuro surgery, working under Derek.

"So how was the first day of kindergarten?" Meredith asked.

"It was hard for me, since we no longer bring them to the hospital with us," Cristina said.

"When I dropped off Zola last year, I cried more than she did," Meredith said. "How did Zach and Anna take it?"

"No problems for Anna because Zola and Sofia were there. Zach, on the other hand, was a little teary-eyed. By the way, he is asking for a brother," Cristina said.

"Ha, ha," Meredith laughed.

"Don't laugh. This is serious business at my house. My husband says he's fine with having another one, so he is no help. I am the one who has to deal with the 'no baby brother' issue with Zach," Cristina said.

"Well, you could always tell Zach that even if you have another baby, there is no guarantee that it is going to be a boy. That will make him have second thoughts because I am sure that Zach doesn't want another girl around. He already has Sofia, Zola and Anna hanging around; they are a handful for any little boy," Meredith said.

"That is so true," Cristina said. "I will tell him that tonight."

Since the kindergarten only took children up to 3.30 p.m., Cristina had to pick up her kids before her shift was over and leave them in Owen's office. As they climbed into their booster seats, she asked, "How was your first day? Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Great, Momma, I had a great time," Anna said. "I played, I drew, I sang, I did crafts."

"What about you, Zach?" Cristina asked her quiet son.

"I made a friend, Joey," Zach said. "He's five years old like me and today was his first day, too. His daddy is a fireman. Joey has three brothers and they are mean. They take away his toys, play tricks on him and don't let him watch his shows or play his video games.

"Momma, I changed my mind. I don't need a brother, anymore," he said. "I like Joey."

Cristina had to smile.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review. It spurs me on to continue.**


	22. Chapter 22 Surprise!

Cristina could not believe it. The stick clearly said, "Pregnant." She was beyond mortified.

Here she was, 42 years old and pregnant again. Her twins were already 10 years old and in the sixth grade. They had both skipped third grade and were now in the same class as their older friends, Zola and Sofia. Cristina had been looking forward to the twins becoming less dependent on her.

She had to be the queen of the accidental pregnancy. Her third accidental pregnancy, she thought. "I don't give doctors who practice birth control a good name." She had long stopped using the pill after she turned 35, so she and Owen had relied mainly on condoms for birth control. Clearly, one of those condoms had been faulty to allow Owen's super sperm to do its dastardly deed and swim up to her uterus.

If she thought she was old, what about Owen? He was 50. She snickered at the thought.

What was she going to do? Especially now that she was head of cardio at Seattle Grace, in addition to Owen's job as Chief of Surgery. They were both very busy at work plus taking care of the twins and all of their extra-curricular activities. Anna had ballet, tap, gymnastics, piano and violin. Zach had soccer, baseball, lacrosse, fencing and guitar. How were they going to do all of that plus take care of a newborn?

She thought about all of her friends and their families. Everyone had children. Meredith and Derek had a biological miracle child four years after they got Zola, seven-year-old Damian. They weren't even trying anymore and it just happened.

Callie and Arizona had two more girls, in addition to Sofia, eight-year-old Gabriela and five-year-old Catalina. Mark was the biological father of all three children as he had donated his sperm for the conception of the latter two children. They had decided that they had wanted full biological siblings with Callie as the mother and Mark as the father. And as Arizona grudgingly admitted, Mark was a great dad.

In his own life, Mark had finally got back together with Addison, who had moved back to Seattle, and with the help of donor eggs fertilized with Mark's sperm, they were the parents of two beautiful red-headed blue-eyed girls, Morgan and Willow, ages 8 and 7. They had chosen a donor with a similar coloring as Addison. There was a joke around the hospital that God had wanted to punish Mark Sloan for his man-whore ways and gave him five daughters he had to protect from predatory men.

Jackson and Lexie had a number of break-ups and make-ups but they finally made back up when she got pregnant with their daughter, Harper, now six. They got married soon after Harper's birth and the next year, Lexie had a boy, who she named Thatcher, now aged five.

April and Dr. Buchanan were married and they added two more children already to his two from his previous marriage. April's kids were Liam and Shannon, ages 7 and 6 respectively. They had moved to the east coast, when Michael was offered a prestigious job at Columbia Presbyterian.

Alex and Izzie finally got back together, after much drama. Izzie had come back to Seattle Grace as an attending after she finished her residency and fellowship elsewhere. The sparks between Alex and her were still there, as they had been when they were interns. They used her frozen embryos and Alex and Izzie had four boys – Landon, Noah, Austin and Wyatt. Landon and Noah were fraternal twins, as were Austin and Wyatt.

The older twins were seven and the younger twins were four. Izzie had hoped that she would have had at least one girl because she always wanted a daughter she could dress up. She had persuaded Alex to try for a daughter one last time. Alex agreed but told her if they got a boy again, that this was going to be their final try. So Izzie was again pregnant and about five months along. Thankfully, she was only having one baby this time. They had declined to find out the sex of their baby, since they wanted to be surprised, when it was born.

At least, Cristina still had company with Izzie being pregnant, she consoled herself. She had to tell her husband. As she left the washroom, she headed to the Chief of Surgery's office. She found him there, under a mountain of paperwork.

"Hey baby," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"We have to talk," she said.

"Okay, something up with the kids?" he asked, concerned.

"No, not the current ones that we have now," she said.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"We're pregnant, again," she told him.

"Again? I am 50 years old! I can't be having babies now," he said.

"How do you think I feel?" she said. "Hey, weren't you the one who said you were up for more kids, five years ago, when Zach was asking for a brother?"

"That was five years ago. Five years younger. Well, you're 42. Izzie is your age and she's having a baby right now. She's doing fine," Owen pointed out.

"Just wanted to let this news sink in for a bit before I make an appointment in the OB department to find out how far along I am. I just hope they don't laugh at us, there," she said. "I'll see you later."

She stepped her way into the OB department. She remembered Dr. Stone, her OB, who had since retired and was now probably golfing in Florida. As she went to make an appointment, she was interrupted by a cheery voice.

"Cristina, what are you doing here?" a pregnant Izzie said to her.

"Oh, I am making an appointment," Cristina said.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Izzie asked, excitedly clapping her hands.

"Yes," Cristina said.

"Dr. Yang, I think Dr. Landau will be able to fit you in this afternoon at 1 p.m. Is that okay with you?" the receptionist said.

"Fine, I will be back," Cristina said.

"So, Cristina, this is so exciting. Didn't think I would have any company for my last pregnancy journey," Izzie said. "Everyone else is done having kids."

"I thought I was too, Izzie. And you're only pregnant because you still want your girl. I got to go now. I have to tell Meredith my news," Cristina said. "Please don't look so cheery."

Cristina headed to the neuro surgical wing. Meredith was the assistant head of neurosurgery under Derek.

"Hey, Cristina," Meredith said. "What's up? Have you finished your costumes for the kids' pageant day? I am way behind in making Zola's costume."

"Meredith, you know I never make any costumes. I just buy the darn things," Cristina said. "Anyway, that's not why I am here. I have some big news. I have to warn you that you cannot laugh at me."

"That sounds like it could be interesting," Meredith said.

"I'm pregnant," Cristina said. Meredith tried very hard to stifle the laughter but she couldn't hold it back.

"Oh, my God! Does Owen know?" Meredith chuckled. "How far along are you?"

"Yes, he does. He is not looking forward to being a father again at 50. I don't know how far along I am. My period has been a little irregular since I hit my 40's. I am going to the doctor this afternoon. Stop laughing, you are supposed to be my friend and sympathize with me," Cristina said, shaking her head.

"I am sorry, Cristina. It's just so funny," Meredith said. "Want to go have lunch now?"

"Yup, now I understand why I have been feeling so famished all of the time," Cristina said as the two best friends headed to the cafeteria.

Alex, Izzie, Jackson and Lexie were all at the usual table. As Meredith and Cristina joined their table, all eyes turned to Cristina. "What's the matter?" Cristina said. "Oh, Izzie, you told them, already."

"Yeah, I couldn't hold that one back. I finally have a buddy," Izzie said.

"So, Cristina, I didn't know Hunt still had it in him," Jackson said. "Seems you guys have been hitting the sheets hard and often."

Cristina gave him a glare.

"Shush, Jackson," Lexie said. "I am very happy for you, Cristina."

"Thank you, Lexie," Cristina said. "I'm glad someone's happy."

"I'm happy, too," Izzie said, cheerily. "Don't forget about me."

"Alex," Cristina said. "You haven't said anything. No snarky comments from you?"

"How can I be snarky, Yang? I'm also having a baby at this age, only because Izzie wants a girl. I was contented with my four boys," Alex said. "But this is the last time, Iz, regardless of what sex the baby is."

As the talk turned to other topics, Cristina wondered how the twins would take the news. After lunch, she headed to her OB appointment.

"Hello Dr Yang. So you're pregnant. And you want to know how far along you are," Dr. Landau said as he put the gel on Cristina's stomach, followed by the wand.

"Oh, my. It seems that you are about 10 weeks. Why didn't you come to us sooner, so we could have started you earlier on prenatal care?" Dr. Landau said.

"Well, I really wasn't feeling nauseous or anything. My period has become a little bit irregular so I really didn't notice anything. I've just been hungrier than usual," Cristina said.

"Well, you're 42, now and that's considered advanced maternal age in our business. The chances for birth defects do increase in older mothers," Dr. Landau said. "We will be monitoring you closely."

"Okay," Cristina agreed.

* * *

><p>Later that day, she and Owen decided to have a little chat with their twins about the pregnancy.<p>

"Daddy and I have something to tell you," Cristina said. The twins looked up from their dinner.

"Don't tell me you're getting a divorce," Anna said. "I would so hate to say that I am from a broken home. Spending the weeks with my mom and weekends with my dad, splitting the holidays and new step-parents…"

"Anna! Why do you get so carried away?" Cristina said. "No, we're not getting a divorce."

"I can't help it, Momma, I am a drama queen," Anna said.

Cristina smiled. "So what's going on, then?" Zach said, relieved that his parents were not getting a divorce.

Owen cleared his throat. "Momma and I are going to have a baby. It is coming in late April or early May."

"Ew, ew, ew!" Anna said. "You're so old to be having a baby. I knew something like this could happen, given how much sex you two have."

"We are not old. Well, I'm not. Can't defend your father on that point," Cristina said.

"Leaving me out there to dry, Cristina," Owen said. "And what do you know about sex, Anna?"

Anna said, "I'm 10 years old, Daddy. I am not stupid. I have my computer. I can read. Plus people talk about it in middle school."

"And how do you know how much sex we have?" Cristina wanted to know.

Zach said quietly, "I think you two have the most sex of all the parents." Zach had long figured out that his parents were not "wrestling" as he had thought when he was little, especially since they started closing the sliding doors to their bedroom, as he got older. He was still an early bird and would come up for his breakfast and sometimes hear his parents' activities behind their closed doors.

"Is it time to have the birds and bees talk?" Owen asked. "I don't want you to be misinformed about anything. Sex is not just the mechanics of the act, which I think you two already know, judging from your comments."

"Daddy, if you're going to start talking about love and emotions and all that jazz," Anna said. "I don't think we're ready for that. Besides, sex is the furthest thing from my mind. I am much more interested in my algae experiment for science class."

"Alright then," Owen said. "Just tell me when you're ready for the talk."

Owen and Cristina disappeared into their bedroom as their children finished their dinner.

"That was a rather revealing discussion we had with our kids," Cristina said.

"I wasn't aware that they knew so much already," Owen said. "I thought I could have put off the talk until they were about 14. But it seems the talk is going to come earlier than that."

"Our kids are very smart," Cristina said. "No wonder they skipped a grade."

"So we're going to have a little baby again. I just realized when this kid is in high school, I will already be 65," Owen said.

"We are so going to be among the oldest parents in PTA. Don't worry Alex and Izzie will be there right along with us," Cristina said.

Owen chuckled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please leave reviews. They are so appreciated. Reviews are love.**

**The next chapter will be the last in this story.**


	23. Chapter 23 Graduation

**A/N: THE FINAL CHAPTER**

* * *

><p>Six-year-old Mackenzie Hunt was in her room, admiring her pretty blue dress. Today was a special day as she, Momma and Daddy were going to Anna and Zach's graduation from high school. Anna and Zach were now 17 and were joint valedictorians of their graduating class. Zola and Sofia were also graduating, so it was going to be a huge gathering from Seattle Grace at the graduation.<p>

If Anna and Zach were replicas of their parents, it was Mac who was the true hybrid. She had her mother's long dark curly hair and full, pink lips, combined with her father's blue eyes.

"Hey there, squirt," Zach said, as he looked into her room. "You looking at yourself?"

"Yes, Zach," she told her tall redheaded brother. "This dress is so pretty. When I got it for my birthday from Aunty Meredith, I knew that I was going to wear it to your graduation."

"I am so honored, Mac," Zach said. "In any case, Anna and I headed down to school, since we both have speeches and we have to do sound tests. I already told Momma, so I will see you there."

"Okay, Zach. Bye," Mac said as she continued to admire herself.

A couple of minutes later, her daddy came down to her room. "Mackenzie, I am here to brush your hair. What do you want to do today?"

"I think I am going with a white headband and have my curls loose down my back," she said. Owen was amazed how his daughters always knew exactly what they wanted. They probably got that from their mother, he thought.

As he brushed her hair, Owen marveled at the thought that his two oldest were graduating from high school, while his youngest would only be entering the first grade in the fall. In a move to appease their parents, Anna chose Harvard (like her dad) while Zach chose Stanford (like his mom). They were both going off to college and it would only be Cristina, Owen and Mac left at home.

"Mac, you do know when Zach and Anna go off to college, it will only be you on this floor," Owen said. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yup, I am not afraid. I will have it all to myself. They won't be around telling me not to touch their things. I will go in their rooms and touch anything I want," she said. "But they'll be back for all of the holidays, so that won't be so bad."

"Okay, then. But if you ever want to come up and see Momma and me, you can, if you want," he said.

"I know but I will be okay. Don't worry, Daddy," she assured him. "Also, Zach told me that I shouldn't bother you and Momma when you're wrestling. He says you don't like to be disturbed."

Owen wanted to laugh. "So Zach said that, did he?" That Zach was a wise young man, Owen thought.

"There we go, I am done. You look so pretty, Mac," he said, as he kissed her on the nose. "Let's just go find Momma and we will head out to the high school."

* * *

><p>The crowd had already started taking their seats when Owen, Cristina and Mac arrived.<p>

"Can you see them?" Cristina asked.

"Yes, there they are," Owen said, pointing out his twins for his petite wife.

"Oh, there's the gang. Let's join them," Cristina said, as she ran to hug Meredith.

The whole Seattle Grace contingent was sitting all together – Meredith, Derek and 13-year-old Damian; Arizona and Callie with 14-year-old Gabriela and 11-year-old Catalina; Mark and Addison with 14-year-old Morgan and 13-year-old Willow; Alex (the twins' godfather) and Izzie with six-year-old Lily Beth, their youngest. Lexie was there to see her niece Zola graduate but Jackson wasn't, as he volunteered to stay at home with Alex's four boys, in addition to his two kids.

Mac was excited to see Lily Beth and ran to talk to her friend. The two girls happily sat next to each other. They were both going to be in the first grade in the fall.

"I hope we get some good pictures of the kids," Cristina said.

"Of course, we're getting the best pictures. Our kids are the co-valedictorians," Owen said, as he took out his camcorder and handed the camera to Cristina.

After all of the awards had been given out and all of the officials and guest speaker had spoken, it was time for Anna and Zach's speech. They had written it together. Anna was going to deliver the first half and Zach was going to finish it.

After giving her salutary greetings, Anna started, "Today, my fellow graduates, marks the end of our time at West Seattle High School. It has been a great run for our class. Who can forget the spring fling, the junior prom, the senior prom, homecoming games and the bonfire nights? And for the geeks like myself, winning the math Olympiad, the science exposition and the regional chess championships were among the highlights. My brother would like me to mention that he was part of the team that won the lacrosse championship as well as he was named the top fencer in the state in his age division. Is that good, Zach? (Zach nodded, while everyone else laughed).

"Yes, today marks an ending for all of us. But it is also a new beginning for all of us. We say goodbye to our childhood and hello to adulthood.

"All of us are going to colleges all over the country and for many of us, it marks the first time we will be separated from our families and friends. My twin brother, Zach and I will be separated on opposite sides of the country for the first time in our lives. We still don't know how we're going to survive it. We have been together forever, from the womb till now. That's a long time to share everything with another person.

"Being separated from our friends and families is going to be very hard. But we do know that it is going to allow us to stand on our own two feet, help us become independent and force us to make our own decisions, right or wrong.

"We're going to make a ton of mistakes but mistakes are how we learn. Those were the words of a wise man, namely my dad, Dr. Owen Hunt. Like the rest of you graduates, our parents have been the biggest influence of our lives. Indulge us a bit, as we talk about the two people who have made the greatest differences in our lives.

"My dad has over the years been a fount of wisdom and good advice for the two of us. He has been the steadying hand that has guided our family over the years. When the rest of us were flailing through our crises, big and small, my dad has been the rock to which we have clung. He has always been our family's hero. Thank you, Dad.

Anna stepped back and let her brother take the podium. Zach continued:

"But it is our mom, Dr. Cristina Yang, who has instilled in us the drive and ambition that we both have. My mother won the Harper Avery award three times, a feat that has yet to be matched by anyone. She always made us strive to be the best that we can be. I guess maybe that's why we both ended up being co-valedictorians today. She would accept nothing less than an A from either of us. After all, she was a straight A student for her entire life, so we had to be, too. Anna and I were competitive with each other from the start and throughout the years, we would always compete to see who could win the coveted trophy for the top student of each grade. God forbid that any other child could ever win that trophy, except for a Hunt. (The audience laughed).

"Thank you, Mom.

"Graduates, take a good look at your parents. These are the people, who have raised you, and show them the gratitude that they deserve. Without these people, we would not be who we are and where we are today.

"So, this is it, my fellow graduates. We're leaving West Seattle High today. Thank you to our teachers and Principal Hastings for all that you have done for us. Let us grab the opportunities that this fine education has allowed us to achieve, as we continue our academic careers at college in the fall. We will always have good memories of this place but let us make even better memories, as we look ahead to the future.

"We thank you all."

Cristina could not feel any prouder of her twins. Her eyes were misting over, even though she was taking as many pictures as she possibly could of her grown-up babies. She could see that Owen was crying, too, even as he filmed everything with his camcorder.

She looked at their friends, Meredith, Derek, Mark, Addison, Callie, Arizona, Alex, Izzie and Lexie. Each of them was shedding a tear, though the men were trying to hide it.

* * *

><p>At the reception held for parents and graduates, Owen turned to Cristina, "We did good, baby. We raised two fine young people. "<p>

"Yes, we did, Owen," Cristina said.

Zach came running to them. "Sofia's moms are throwing a bash for all the kids at their house. Can we go?"

"Yes, Zach. Just come home by midnight, " Owen said.

"Okay, Dad," Zach said, running back to tell Anna the good news.

"Well, it looks like it's just going to be us at home tonight," Owen said. "Zach and Anna are at Callie and Arizona's house, and Mackenzie is having a sleepover with Lily Beth at Alex and Izzie's place. And we have the place until midnight all to ourselves. Do you have any idea what we could do with all that time? Hmm. I wonder."

Cristina grinned. "Feeling a little frisky, old man?"

Owen retorted, "Who are you calling old? By the way, Zach told Mac that she shouldn't bother us when she sees us wrestling because we do not like to be disturbed."

"Ready, Dr. Hunt, for a little bit of wrestling?" she said.

"You mean a lot of wrestling," he grinned.

He took her hand into his, as they headed to their car.

"I love you, Dr. Hunt."

"I love you, too, Dr. Yang."

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you to all who have come on this journey with me. So the show didn't give us the happy ending we were looking for in terms of the baby. But we can always have our own happy endings in fan fiction.**

**Please leave your reviews. They mean so much to me.**


End file.
